Families learning to spot PTSD

Families learning to spot PTSD

Veterans Affairs offers aid in recognizing signs
By Suzanne Bohan, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 03/27/2008 02:32:42 AM PDT


Roughly one in five soldiers or Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan develop post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that has been plaguing humans through the ages.
"It's been around for thousands of years — as long as there's been war, as long as there's been trauma," said Dr. Byron J. Wittlin, director of mental health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in San Bruno.

In World War II, the condition was called "shell shock," he said. Now it has an official name: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Many of its victims remain untreated, so the VA is trying to educate family members.

"I think it's crucial for (military) family members to be aware of the potential mental health problems of their loved ones," Wittlin said.

As part of the emphasis on training family members to spot signs of the disorder, he recently spoke to a group from the Pacifica Military Moms, a chapter of the national organization, The Blue Star Mothers of America.

Debbie Smyser, co-founder of the Pacifica group and a trainer at Genentech in South San Francisco, has a 21-year-old sonin Iraq.

A number of the members of the group also have offspring in Iraq or Afghanistan, and Smyser said they wanted to be prepared to help their children should they return in mental distress.

"We need to know what to recognize, in case we need to get them help," she said. "It's just to make us aware and what signs to look for."

However, the


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disorder is not unique to military personnel who have witnessed or experienced violence from combatants, or other extreme stresses of wartime service, Wittlin said.
Roughly half of all adults will experience trauma in their lives, ranging from serious vehicle accidents and natural disasters to criminal attacks and sexual abuse.

While it's normal to feel frightened, anxious, angry and depressed after such incidents, if they persist long after the event, that's a sign of PTSD.

Of those experiencing trauma during their lives, roughly 8 percent will develop the disorder, according to federal statistics.

But military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan are coping with, in essence, guerrilla warfare, and must remain constantly on alert, which also heightens their risks of developing PTSD, Wittlin said.

They also regularly endure 50-mile-an-hour dust storms, sleep deprivation, long separations from family and multiple tours of duty.

It takes a trained clinician to accurately diagnose PTSD.

The hallmark symptoms include: recurrent and intrusive thoughts about the trauma, avoidance of triggers that are reminders of the event, and either a numbing of emotions or the opposite — heightened irritability and excessive vigilance.


For many people, the disorder will fade on its own, Wittlin said. But for others, it persists, many times for years, disrupting relationships with spouses, children, other family members and friends.

Jobs often are hard to keep for those with PTSD, as they become easily irritated and critical of others.

Others begin abusing alcohol or drugs to relieve their symptoms, Wittlin said. At its worst, sufferers can become suicidal, an act easier to carry out since many veterans keep weapons at home.

"A number of veterans come back feeling wary enough that they keep a loaded gun in the house," Wittlin said.

"We discourage that," he added. "Or, we ask them to lock it up."

It's not a sign of weakness, experts emphasize, that some develop the condition while others don't. Researchers are studying risk factors for PTSD, and among them are early childhood trauma, Wittlin said.

Still, many military personnel avoid mental health treatment, often for fear of stigma. Other active-duty personnel are reluctant to report these problems, as

they don't want to abandon their comrades, which "engenders shame," he added.

As a result, many military personnel remain undiagnosed or untreated, he said.

The condition is highly treatable, Wittlin emphasized.

"People get better," he said.


And while nonexperts can't with certainly conclude if a veteran has PTSD, they can play a crucial role guiding those in need of aid into to a health care clinic.

"We encourage family members to be supportive, to mainly listen," Wittlin said. "And if they feel the vet needs some help, to call the VA and to refer them into us.

"This is really a complicated problem. And in our system, we have a lot of experience. And this is one of the services we want to offer."


For more information on the Pacifica Military Moms, which accepts members from throughout the Bay Area, visit http://www.pacificamilitarymoms.com.



For more information on PTSD, visit the National Institutes of Health's Web site on the condition at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml.



Reach Suzanne Bohan at sbohan@bayareanewsgroup.com or 650-348-4324.

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