Veterans Affairs has deserted it's retired/released Canadian soldiers who have found out that they have PTSD after they left the military.You serve your country for years but as soon as you have mental health issues they turn their backs.In my husbands case,Veterans Affairs said he needed to see a pychologist to get proof he had PTSD,but even after a diagnosis Veterans Affairs now says they acknowledge he has it but he will need to proved documentation from others who saw or experienced the same things he did.Not only does this make him relive everything he wished he could forget but now he has other soldiers reliving them too!The families get absoultly no support.I can say this as a spouse of a retired Canadian Soldier who has to live with PTSD every day.It has affected our family.I have had several stress leaves from my career and finally had to quit my job in order to handle the stress's of home,living with a spouse with PTSD.Veterans Affairs has kept us jumping through hoops for the past several years,denying us medical help,denying us financial support,denying my husband medication.Each time they ask us to provide them with informaion,we have but you have done nothing for us but cause more stress and anxiety for a family who already lives with it each and every day.We are now at our final appeal. Veterans Affairs you throughly disgust me in the manner in which you have treated my family and many many other's.You have failed so many people who need help.How dare you hire uneducated civilians who sit in judgementat your Review and Appeal Board hearings to deside on the lives of these soldiers.These civilans have no military medical or legal experience yet you let them decide on the disabilities of our soldiers!You have better get your act together Veterans Affairs because PTSD is not going away,it only gets worse without help and there are many more soldiers coming home that you will need to deal with and that won't go away and neither will we!

We just watched this report today (12-23) this is truly the price we pay when we go to wars. We feel this type of story will never be told on American TV. Thank you again our prayers and thoughts are with Byron & Kristy Hancock and their family and all the other families dealing with this on a daily basis.
Pat and Walt Przebieglec, Shoreline, Wa.

Posted by: Pat and Walt Przebieglec | Dec 23, 07 06:19 PM

suggestion :

{ Brooks, J.S. and Scarano, T. Transcendental Meditation (TM)in the treatment of post-Vietnam adjustment. Journal of Counseling and Development 64: 212–215, 1985. }

one of 600 studies on the benefits of TM for body mind behaviour and environment

http://www.mum.edu/tm_research/bibliography.html

{ Tjoa, A. Increased intelligence and reduced neuroticism through the Transcendental Meditation program. Gedrag: Tijdschrift voor Psychologie 3: 167–182, 1975.}

{Nidich, S.I. et al. Kohlbergian cosmic perspective responses, EEG coherence, and the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. Journal of Moral Education 12: 166–173, 1983.}

{ Travis, F. Patterns of EEG coherence, power, and contingent negative variation characterize the integration of transcendental and waking states. Biological Psychology 61: 293–319, 2002.}

{Gaylord, C. et al. The effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique and progressive muscle relaxation on EEG coherence, stress reactivity, and mental health in black adults. International Journal of Neuroscience 46: 77–86, 1989.}

{ Alexander, C.N. et al. Transcendental Meditation, self-actualization, and psychological health: A conceptual overview and statistical meta-analysis. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 6: 189–247, 1991. }

{ Orme-Johnson, D.W., et al. Preventing terrorism and international conflict: Effects of large assemblies of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36: 283–302, 2003. }

{ Alexander, C.N. et al. Transcendental Meditation in criminal rehabilitation and crime prevention. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36 (1/2/3/4): 2003. }

Posted by: stefan | Dec 23, 07 09:16 AM

Thank you for this eye opener re PTSD. My father too is a veteran of WWII and it seemed to me that your broadcast concentrated on the new vets and their difficulties upon their return; excluding the older vets. I often wondered about my father and why it was so difficult to live with him in so many ways for so many years. Since my mother is gone, I feel it is now my duty to contact Veterans Affairs, thanks to your broadcast, to see what support they can offer us even now. And, it has also opened my eyes to become more understanding and more aware. Since it has truly negatively impacted our family and friends and relationships in so many ways over all of these years, but I still feel it is never too late to try to make some positive changes. Thank you,

Marsha