Service-related stress builds for veterans

Service-related stress builds for veterans

Survey: Growing number of troops reports symptoms
By Steve Wideman • Post-Crescent staff writer • April 28, 2008


BRILLION — Scott Adler's face grew tense and his gaze distracted as his cell phone's ring tone pierced the otherwise quiet atmosphere of his living room.


Adler deliberately ignored the ringing as he talked about his experience as a military police officer in the Army.

The tenseness disappeared when the ringing stopped. A message left no doubt the caller was trying to reach a church, not Adler.

"It's a wrong number," Adler said as he smiled for the first time since telling of a July 2001 telephone call that ended with his friend and fellow military police officer committing suicide with a gunshot wound to the head.

The suicides of three fellow officers in 18 months contributed to Adler joining a growing number of military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve members, being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A nationwide survey of 1,965 service members by the Rand Corp. found nearly 20 percent of those returning from war, or about 300,000 soldiers, report symptoms of PTSD, but only about 50 percent seek treatment.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., joined two other Democratic senators last week in introducing legislation calling on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to track how many veterans commit suicide each year.

The legislation request came after the VA disclosed that 12,000 veterans attempt suicide annually while an average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day.

That's no surprise to Adler, 36, who served two tours of active duty, from 1990 to 1995 — when he deployed for Operation Desert Storm — and again from 2000 to 2003. Between those tours Adler served with the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

Adler was discharged in 2003 for medical reasons related to a PTSD diagnosis.

"Soldiers who report mental health issues are separated from friends and social networks," Adler said. "When you are on active duty, you are considered damaged goods to the unit. You are just left out in the wind."

Years of anxiety, flashbacks and nightmares later, VA psychiatrists declared Adler 100 percent disabled.

Although he continues to receive treatment for his diagnosis, Adler said the VA needs to hire more staff to treat the large numbers of active duty, Reservists and National Guard military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sandy Pharis, who coordinates a military veterans support group for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Fox Valley in Appleton, said most veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression are reluctant to seek treatment.

"I know for a fact there is a stigma attached to it. There is a stigma in the community in general attached to people suffering from mental disorders," said Pharis, a Marine Corps veteran who served during the Vietnam War era.

Several hundred Wisconsin Army National Guard members and Army Reservists from the Fox Cities currently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan will be returning home within a year.

Pharis said her NAMI group is gearing up for an influx of requests for help and sees her veterans support group growing.

"It always helps to have veterans together," Pharis said. "They (returning soldiers) don't think their families will understand and they don't want a bad mark on their military record by reporting symptoms. They don't want to be discriminated against."

Adler said returning Guard and Reserve members "have a lot at stake to lose" if they fail to report symptoms of PTSD or depression. "It's one of those illnesses that may never go away."

Pharis said returning war veterans should "definitely seek help. It's important to get in and see a health professional to make sure any diagnosis is correct and to get the correct medication to help them through the symptoms."

Steve Wideman: 920-993-1000, ext. 302, or swideman@postcrescent.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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