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COUNSELORS HELP COMBAT VETERANS FIND PERSONAL
PEACE -- "The sound of helicopters, just that
sound...
My body tightens up, I get on high alert and I
break
out in a cold sweat. It really upsets me. You'd
think I'd be over it after more than 40 years."
Vietnam war veteran John Prouty is
silhouetted by a window at the Cle Elum Veterans' Center. (Photo
illustration by Joe Whiteside and Jimmy Alford / Daily Record) |
For more about veterans and PTSD, use the VA
Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=ptsd&op=and
Story here...
http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2
008/07/17/news/doc487f99bd926e9556902097.txt
Story below:
-------------------------
Counselors help combat veterans find
personal peace
By MIKE JOHNSTON
senior writer
CLE ELUM – For Vietnam War combat veteran
John Prouty of Cle Elum, there are several situations that bring on his
inward struggle with post-traumatic stress from his war experiences.
“The sound of helicopters, just that sound,” Prouty, 62, said. “You knew
in Vietnam that jumping off from a helicopter and getting picked up was
the most dangerous time. Charlie knew it was an opportunity to kill you
when you stepped out of your cover.
 “My
body tightens up, I get on high alert and I break out in a cold sweat. It
really upsets me. You’d think I’d be over it after more than 40 years.”
Prouty started going to counseling three years ago for his particular set
of symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. He
believes he’s made more headway in dealing with them in the last 1 1/2
years in counseling with Paul Pridmore of Wenatchee who has office hours
once a week in Ellensburg.
Prouty began to better understand, through counseling, why he responds the
way he does to certain situations that bring out anxiety and anger.
No magic words
Prouty said counselor Pridmore, who also serves in the Washington Army
National Guard, didn’t have “magic words of wisdom” that took his problems
away “and fixed everything.”
Pridmore carefully listened to Prouty’s war experience, his perspective
and beliefs about his military service and his PTSD reactions and helped
him develop coping strategies and self-help techniques.
Prouty had to face close proximity to helicopters and their sounds last
year when he drove a fuel truck for the state Department of Natural
Resources. He brought fuel to locations where the DNR’s fire-fighting
helicopters were working.
“I got myself ready for each situation and had to deal with it,” Prouty
said. “Some things you can change with the help of counseling, other
things you just have to find ways to work through them.”
Prouty said his 27-year-old son served in Iraq with the National Guard for
a year starting in late 2003, attached to a regular U.S. Army unit. His
son is now getting occasional counseling from Pridmore.
“I really wish I hadn’t ignored it for 40 years,” Prouty said about PTSD.
“We didn’t have counseling available when we came back from Vietnam like
they have now. We also didn’t get the respect Iraq veterans are getting
now. There were times back then when I didn’t want to admit I’d been in
the military because of people’s
 reaction.
“I thought I was serving my country the best I could when I was in
Vietnam.”
One in four?
Pridmore, 38, said if previous wars are any indication, more veterans of
service in Iraq and Afghanistan will seek out counseling for PTSD as the
years go on.
“I would agree right now we’re seeing just the tip of the iceberg of those
who could benefit from PTSD counseling,” said Pridmore who has been a
counselor since 2000. “Obviously, those coming back after more than one
deployment are more likely to have serious struggles.”
He said the latest estimates are that one Iraq/Afghansistan veteran in
five could have some aspect of PTSD to deal with. He believes that the
actual number is likely closer to one in four, perhaps as high as 30
percent.
Russell Anderson, veterans’ counselor with Central Washington
Comprehensive Mental Health in Ellensburg, said most of the problems he’s
seen among combat vets he’s assisted have to do with difficulty with
social functioning and interpersonal relationships.
He said that’s pretty much the same, no matter what war or conflict they
were involved in.
Anderson, 60, served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam between December 1967 and
December 1968. He has 21 years of veteran counseling experience with the
federal Veterans Administration.
“The times, the units, the lingo, the terrain, the countries and local
people are all different,” Anderson said, “but the combat experiences and
the impact of those experiences on the veterans’ lives does not change
much.”
Silence breaking
Anderson said listening to the details of each vets’ experience is a key
part of counseling; he said it’s called “breaking the silence.”
“The vet discovers quickly when they come back that most people don’t
understand what they’re talking about when they try to share their
experience,” Anderson said. “Those struggling with PTSD usually have the
same concerns — reintegrating into society and dealing with memories of
combat.”
Both Anderson and Pridmore agreed their military experience helps them
better understand veterans’ struggles and to build a sense of trust with
their clients.
They also agreed more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will likely come
forward for help the farther removed they are from their years of service.
“It’s usually later, after returning from deployment, when a veteran
starts to think about his or her experience and tries to attach a meaning
to it that they may have the onset of PTSD symptoms,” Pridmore said.
Possible warning signs of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)
• Depression and isolation from family, friends, significant others;
avoidance of social situations and interaction with the public.
• Flashes of unreasonable anger and rage; high levels of irritability and
anxiety; over-reaction to stress situations.
• Difficulty with expressing intimacy in relationships.
• Sleep disturbances, including nightmares, sustained restlessness,
getting up often at night.
• Hyper vigilance of one’s physical surroundings and heightened concern
with perceived and possible threats to safety.
• Sometimes PTSD can exhibit itself in an increase in substance abuse in
an effort to self-medicate; there can be much defensiveness when asked
about drinking or substance abuse.
• The above situations can be experienced in a wide range of intensities
and combinations.
— Source: Veterans counselor Russell Anderson.
Finding Help
Online:
• www.dva.wa.gov , click “war trauma
counseling.”
• www.vetcenter.va.gov , click
on “vet center services.”
• www.ncptsd.org
• www.iava.org
Books:
• "Down Range: To Iraq and Back" by Chuck Dean and Bridget Cantrell.
• "Nam Vets" by Chuck Dean.
• "Once a Warrior: Wired for Life" by Chuck Dean.
Call:
• Counselor Paul Pridmore (after July 26) (509) 322-0993;
Counselor/therapist Russell Anderson 925-9861.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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