April, 2008
Here is some more info on discharges for "Personality Disorders". Remember, if you have been given a discharge due to Anxiety Disorder, Personality Disorder or Adjustment Disorder you may need to contact a lawyer to obtain your legally guaranteed veteran benefits. Don't let this slide.
In addition to the Veterans Administration being raked over the coals due to the outrageous suicide epidemic among the nations veterans, it is now becomming clear that the Department of Defense has discharged 24,000 soldiers with what used to be called Section 8 discharges due to personality disorders and/or adjustment disorders. This deceit hides the vast numbers of servicemen and women suffering from mental health issues. It's much easier to claim someone has a personality disorder than to admit they have sustained a brain injury during war. Cheaper too. No long term care is required for a Section 8 defective human being.
To help in understanding what the military calls differences between Adjustment Disorder and PTSD, here are some definitions from a 2006 brochure produced by the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine [pdf]:
An Overview of Deployment-Related Stress
Our bodies and minds are built to deal with and handle stress. Sometimes, though, the amount of stress we face overwhelms our defenses. When this happens, we start to act, feel, and think in ways that are different from what is normal for us – we just don't feel "right," or we feel like we can't do the things we are used to doing.
Whether these problems are mild or serious and whether they last for a short time or a long time depends on the nature of the stress and the strength of our defenses at the time the stress occurs. Keep in mind, though, that the strength of everyone's defenses varies over time based on what else is going on in their lives and their overall health.
For the most part, there are four kinds of deployment-related stress problems that you should know about. These are...
* Combat/Operational Stress Reactions (COSRs)
* Adjustment Disorders
* Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)
* Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
You can think of COSRs as being the mildest and most common form of deployment-related stress problems and PTSD as the most severe. Another way of thinking about this is to say that Soldiers experiencing COSRs are in the Green/Amber Zone, Soldiers with Adjustment Disorders are in the Amber Zone, and Soldiers with ASD or PTSD are in the Red.
Any deployment-related stress problem can be serious, but most are resolved quickly with just a little bit of help. ...
Adjustment Disorders
Adjustment Disorders are much more common than either PTSD or ASD and, on the whole, are usually much less serious. An Adjustment Disorder occurs when an individual is exposed to stress, causing a reaction that results in significant distress or impairment. That reaction can involve depression, anxiety, disturbance of conduct, or any combination of the above.
Principle Types of Adjustment Disorders
* Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood
* Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety
* Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood
* Adjustment Disorder with Disturbance of Conduct
* Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct
In general, Adjustment Disorders do not last for extended periods of time. Symptoms may start to appear as long as three months following the stressor, but are usually resolved in no more than 6 months.
Click here and tell me that experiences like this are going to give you nightmares that will end in six months. As if.... Caution: Turn your sound down. Bad language not suitable for kids or dorks.
These "Adjustment Disorders" strike me as being government double talk for the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; which qualifies the veteran for the long term care. Remember that, by definition, Adjustment Disorders last no longer than six months. Long term care, with counselling and medication, is necessary for up to a third of all vets returning from Afghanistan and Iraq to assure the veteran has a higher quality of life -- with normal prevalence of suicide. Not suicide rates eight time the rate of their peers who did not serve the nation.
Unfortunately this care is expensive. But then again, so are artificial legs. What is more important: a mind or a leg?
Much of this data was copied from The PTSD Blogspot This is a superior resource. We recommend it.
