Band of sisters: PTSD

Thank's for this Campbell. I have girl friends who are in the service doing all the hard labor the boys are doing and getting little exposure or credit.

My message to the lady soldiers out there; the golden generals...

Oooo Raw!

I was honorably discharged from the USAF in the 1980s, which was a time when few people wanted to volunteer to serve their country because of Vietnam. People thought me insane when I enlisted; they think I'm a liar now when I tell them that I served. Never mind that I have the honorable discharge paper (DD-214), marksmanship ribbon and good conduct medal to prove it; I can't get anyone to buy me a drink either. While in the service during Grenada and Beirut, I didn't serve in either place; my base was in Kansas where I kept this country safe. I recently ran into a male vet who never left Alabama during WW2; people consider him a REAL vet but not me. I'm told that, unless I was in combat, I'm not a vet; that women can't be veterans. There's way too much ignorance out there because most people have an attitude that, to volunteer to fight and die for your country, you must either be ignorant, naive, stupid or poor. Until that attitude changes, all veterans, women included, won't get the respect they deserve or the right treatments either.

Campbell,
thanks so much for the report "band of sisters". I see our troops every week at the camp that they get their trainings but I never thought that women will face these challenges when they come back home.
I will make sure I thank them more for their service from now on.
God Bless our troops.

Please be kind enough to leave this blog open so I can sp[am the Plethora of woemn leaders of the planet Brandon swears don't exist

Oh that was just wrong... you shouldnt' have taken that down

here's part of that list

Marrie Curry
Rosa Parks
Queen Elizabeth
Cleopatra
Katherine the great
Joan of Arc
Grainy Mohl
Eleanor Roosevelt
Oprah Winfrey
Barabara Walters
Christa McCallife
Amelia Aerhart
Hillary Clinton
Madeline Albright
Queen Elizabeth II

So do oyu wan tjust some of the positive leaeers or do you want the negative one's too? this could take a while

Sarah Palin
Vera Drake
Barabara Bachmann [noone can be that crazy and be good for anyone]

hmm not so long a list of bad ones

http://www.amazon.com/Uppity-Women-Medieval-Times-Vicki/dp/1573240397/ref=sid_av_dp#noop

Heh just follow the link Brandon

There's a little history for ya, some great others... Mmmmm not so much

My daughter is a Major in the U. S. Army...been to Iraq

Women fought for the right to join the military and now they are crying PTSD, rub some dirt on it and soldier on or go back to the kitchen and bake me some chicken.

Congratulations Edyth. You are so right. My Granddaughter did her time in Kerkuk and Turkey and no respect.

Edyth,
It is sad and unfortunate that someone would treat you that way and belittle your service to this country. It is unfortunate that the society we have built is one so blind to the sacrifices that are made.
Rest assured, though, there are those of us out there who recognize and treasure your service to this country.
Perhaps someday the symbol will change from only combat to service.

To the Women who serve, and who go unseen, unrecognized.... and to you Edyth... Thank you.

The statistics used here are misleading. Women are much more likely to get PTSD because of society's ongoing problems with violence against women. Women who have experienced rape and assault will often suffer from PTSD. I do not mean to suggest in any way that women in the military do not likewise suffer from PTSD, and I think bringing this fact to light is commendable. That said, PTSD is often treated as something that only affects veterans, which trivializes the suffering survivors of assault go through. That notion is enforced in this article, especially in the headline "Women not immune to PTSD". With at least a third of rape victims suffering from PTSD because of their trauma, women are especially vulnerable to PTSD.

Edyth–I served during the 80s as well. I had a fellow teacher tell me during a vets day program that at least my husband was a real vet. We served almost the same years! LMAO. What can you do? I'm proud of my service. And girl, buy yourself a drink. You deserve it.

Thanks for the story. I have been diagnosed with PTSD and it is a living hell. Things get better for a while, but it is always there and it is easier to hide than explain to others. I often feel isolated and stories like this remind me that I am not alone.

My daughter is a Major in the U. S. Army....was a ROTC grad. in college....been to Iraq and numerous other deployments around the world. I am so proud of her for what she does, what she believes in, her pride in the United States, her courage, her intelligence, and her support for her fellow warriors. Yes, being a father I do worry but I know she is doing what she wants to and is doing what she believes in...for that I salute her even more! Women in the military need our help, our support, our thanks, and a deep gratitude for what she do and have done. Thank you CNN for this series....Their story needs to be told.

As a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I understand first hand the severity of PTSD; it's a condition that the military never fully embraced because they still don't understand it. Our options when we came back home to the United States boiled down to this: either suck it up, or get shuffled off to a room to talk to a doctor at what may come at the expense of your career. The military's treatment for PTSD is cold instead of what should be comforting, which is why many soldiers don't opt to seek help and instead keep their traumatic experiences bottled up inside.

However, I believe this is a pressing issue in general, and not something that should be catered to women. Every person handles war differently; it's too much of a stereotype to assume that one gender has it worse than the other. All cases of PTSD need to be treated delicately and properly regardless of gender. I don't think female veterans require nor desire special treatment, but rather that the veteran community in general deserves better treatment for this serious issue.

To the comments about women serving in near combat-roles; while we aren't allowed to serve in combat arms, many of our jobs place us right next to those in combat arms. I've patrolled down the streets of Iraq, convoyed for hours throughout the country, and had my fair share of incidents and close calls. Never once was my gender an issue; as a soldier, I was trained to know –and thus expected to know– what to do regardless of the circumstances. With the new war dymanic we find ourselves fighting in, women have continually blurred the lines of definitive combat role, often times finding themselves in harrowing situations that typically, and historically, were reserved for the men. Therefore, to say that women shouldn't be in combat at all is an insult to those female soldiers who made so many sacrifices in the past, and better yet, volunteered to do it. To be blunt, some women prefer to work in an office, some women prefer to work in a warzone. To each her own.

Maybe PTSD affects women at a higher rate than men, but the male female ratio of PTSD is probably closer to 500 or even 1,000 or more to 1. So Campbell Brown's catchy headline is incredibly misleading. Men do over 99% of the combat exposure work. In addition, if you consider loss of life the utlimate contribution - men have contributed at something like over 1,000 times the amount of women for the past several wars.

So thanks Campbell, for pushing your womens agenda and clouding the whole picture. Women are interested in being a part of the military, but the statistics prove it is for the office jobs. Whereas male soldiers make up all the casualties, suicides, and vast majority of PTSD cases.

If you want to report on something meaningful, take a look at the number of COLORED INDIVIDUALS with PTSD and their rate of exposure and treatment (truly breathtaking figures) compared to whites – instead of forming this into your selfish agenda about women and PTSD in order to receive higher ratings.

I feel somewhat avenged, now that those of us who have "no problem" are finally being brought to the public's attention. There is no such thing as just "coming home" and returning to anything that resembles the life we had before. Then, you're saddled with the disappointment and disillusionment of relatives, friends, employers and society, which adds to your overall problem a hundredfold.. After 4 sexual assaults, getting shot at, losing 19 friends and comerades in a bombing, and finally having multiple breakdowns, I realized I was no longer able to work, despite having been in therapy for years. I am furious to have learned tonight that these female warriors aren't being granted combat related service compensation, because it is right in the line of view all the way to the White House– but it doesn't surprise me as, it's just another way that VA sticks to the "good ol'boy" mentality when de-valuing female servicemembers. Developing service-connected cancer from exposure to a previously unknown carcinogenic got me yet another denial (my fourth) from VA for service connection or unemployability. I haven't been able to work for years, yet cannot get the unemployability rating. It seems that VA is supposed to do so much for us, and I am truly impressed with the medical care, but on the psychiatric side of things they are still vastly in need of improvement because they can make you feel like an invalidated, unimportant, hopeless number on a page. This rejection has caused my PTSD and depression to move into the
suicidal "ideation" range, because I invested so much of my life without question only to be given less than marginal psychiatric treatment now. I cannot be hospitalized in the psych ward when I need it, because it's filled primarily with older men who would be potentially threatening to a much younger, attractive woman, so I'd be terrified of assault (or even leering) on top of everything else. So far, this has culminated in me adapting to a day to day type of dealing with things–when I collapse emotionally, I go to ER, get a shot, and get sent home. My incurable cancer has been in remission for a little over a year now, but I am having surgery in January to see if it has returned. My children are on their own now. One of these days, I am not so sure the docs are going to be able to revive me, because I feel like I do not matter, functionally, anymore. At least I had this moment to post a comment I know will be read by many who will be able to relate to me... that is far better than what I've gotten in the past 8 years. I, too have been called a liar when I mention I'm retired from the Air Force (comments like, "did you join at age ten?") and chuckles from the many male war vets sitting around at the VA hospital. Nobody knows just how deeply this hurts, destroys, and affects a female vet's life. I am running out of things to keep me motivated to live.

Is this a surprise?

Men, for all our failings, are physically robust, emotionally detached at times when it is useful, and as Polish scientists recently found using brain scans, better able to make decisions under pressure.

There are differences between men and women, believe it or not. Differences that upbringing alone cannot erase. Men are more physically robust and better at unemotional decision-making.

Women are more sensitive, better at holding communities together, and better at raising children.

In other words, men are the Yang to womens' Yin. The Chinese figured this out a thousand years ago. What happened?

Can some women hike as far or lift as much as men sometimes? Absolutely. Are men, on average, better at it though? Absolutely.

Can some men be as emotionally sensitive as women sometimes? Absolutely. Are women, on average, better at it though? Absolutely.

Nobody would argue that greyhounds are better runners than bulldogs. Why won't we face that reality with our own kind?

Yawn. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Edyth, a marksman ribbon means you qualified shooting M-16 like everyone in the AF and everyone gets a good conduct medal for 3 yrs service without being arrested or punching a superior.

America is having a problem with PTSD- with ALL classes of society,
ALL socioeconomic backgrounds, with ALL races, Young, Old, and everyone else in between. Not most Vet's are rarely treated well after they come home. All are affected. And so are their families, which, in turn, continues the cycle.............

Women not immune to PTSD? Really? What about zits? Nightmares? Blisters? Wait we need news stories on these to...

Are women immune to death as well or do they hit 90, shed their skin like a snake and turn back to 16?

WE NEED NEWS TO TELL US!

The CNN front page title of this article, "Women not immune to PTSD" is inane. Why would we be? Can somebody please change the title to something a little more appropriate.

thanks campbell.

I was wondering where SSG Moss was born and raised because I am a Moss. Hang in there June.

Edyth:

I believe you - I think you are reporting the hard honest truth based on your experience and that of many other women.
And I also believe that you served for honorable reasons based on
what you believed was true - that you were protecting the citizens of
our country.
And I hope you come to understand that the reason that most people don't give you the respect you deserve for your service on behalf of others is as you say - most of us believe it is ignorant, naive, stupid and poor people who do so. You are right. And I also believe this is true. That you were a pawn of American corporations not American
people. War is about business. It's not about people like you or me
or most of us. It's about the few who profit from others youth, innocence, idealism and in times with no draft on lack of jobs available.
May you come to understand this is not your weakness. It is the
weakness of the system that hired you for its own purposes.

inaccurate, enabling, and less than accurate. Combat is clearly not defined by those who have experienced it as driving by bodies or wondering if someone is going to shoot at you. These are everyday situations in most US cities. Let us stop pretending and making excuses for the PC position of gender integration. Although it plays well in DC and CNN, it is an exp[eriment gone astray. The real story might have been "what are the implications of this statistic?"

While your story covers a rarely discussed women veterans' issue, PTSD in our returning female vets, it fails to capture the less obvious but more pervasive cause of PTSD in women vets-that being sexual harassment and sexual abuse. Often it is the latter two that are at the core of a woman vets' PTSD symptoms. And women veterans feel great shame and fear in discussing these incidences with anyone, i.e., mental health professionals and even more- anyone in the military.

Women maybe part of the military but out in the field they are often resented by their male counterparts. This resentment is often expressed as sexual harassment and or sexual abuse.

Sexual harassment in the military is frightening not because a woman will lose her job. It is so scary because these women soldiers fear for their lives if they do not submit. An angry demand for sex by a man with a gun or the ability to place a woman in a dangerous situation is life threatening-it is traumatic in and of itself. Sexual abuse or rape is more common than is reported. Those of us who have worked in the mental health systems of the VA's know this all too well.

This story has not been told. I believe and other professionals like myself who specialize in PTSD understand that the rates of PTSD in women are higher in great part to the life threatening stress they face on a day to day basis in the military.

I hope you will be able to tell this story.

I served in the Army and was sent to Saudi Arabia. We were the only 2 flight crews over there in the late 90's; which meant we were on duty 24/7. I was the only female in my unit. Anyways, some things happened. I lost a lot of weight, barely maintaining 100lbs. Came home, went to Mental Health and was told, "go home -unless your going to harm yourself or somebody else, just go home" I went home was later diagnosed with PTSD and all the other trappings but have been fighting with the VA for service connection for the last 10 yrs. They don't want to take responsibility no matter how many different mental health experts they have sent me too they all say the same thing. It would be nice if they change the policy and treat women more fairly. At the time I went thru everything was male against female, esp in reporting. They say it has changed, but I have been fighting the system.....so we will see

Maybe it wasnt simple sexism that caused women not to be put in as direct combat troops....
other than that i have all of the respect in the world for female soldiers and honor their sacrifices and contributions to this country

Check out "The Girls Come Marching Home"

Women are twice a likely to sustain physical injuries in basic training, twice as like to be discharged early for emotional reasons and twice a likely to suffer psychological trauma from military action. Why is that newsworthy?

I'm a female veteran and I was deployed twice to Iraq within three years. The first time I came back home from my first deployment the local people would stop me and my girlfriends when we were out in uniform and thank us for all the hard work we had done. They never asked us what we had done or seen they were really thankful.It's a shame that female veterans out there are not getting the respect and treatment that we all deserve.

PTSD is real, regardless of gender. I hope that articles like this one don't make it harder for men to seek treatment; make them afraid of being accused of it being a "women's problem". I know the article in no way implies this, but I expect there will be lot's of people out there who twist the findings to fit their own pre-conceived notions.

Edyth – do not take the people who do not honour your service to heart. No matter what you have or have not done, there will be people who say it does not count. My DH, with 20 years in the service, saw active combat in many theaters, including Bosnia, Croatia (and PTSD from Croatia), Kosovo, and A'stan, was told to his face by a WWII vet that he "didn't qualify" as a vet since his service wasn't a World War, Viet Nam, or Korea.

I think that this is a good article but the idea is kinda dumb, because, of course women would get PTSD. They are human, aren't they? You act like just because they are women, they are not prone to it, when in fact men and women are the same.

Anybody who served is a veteran regardless of whether he or she was a combat hero or operated a fork lift; you still wrote a blank check on your life payable to the United States of America. As time goes by and women see more combat we can expect more PTSD cases among women veterans, especially medics and other "non combatants."

I am a US Army Veteran of two Iraqi tours, my husband a veteran of three Iraqi tours recently passed. He had PTSD. I do not deny that women are developing PTSD, but I have to disagree that women are twice as more likely to develop PTSD than men. Its not just that men see more combat, though that is the case most of the time. But even though men are seen to be the bigger and more stronger one's, often times, men are the weakest in dealing with severe emotions.

I served in the infantry with over a year in Korea. Especially, in the Desert of California, I remember the women drivers, cooks, and medics sweating it out with huge vehicals or incredible heat working conditions. They all did a great job! It must be a lot of stress when combining with marriage and family, though, and many have to do the supermom thing. Remembering all the married soldiers talking about their family problems, deployment,, etc...and then combine that with tours to Iraq... Any time you live in a combat country and have to be alert 24/7, it is a big stress. Everyone deserves a award.

Edyth – thank you. thank you for volunteering to defend your country and serving honorably. if i could buy you a drink, i would.

women are devalued no matter what role they choose. of course this is no different, but it's good that it is being talked about.

@Edyth

I'm fairly familiar with PTSD, but more so with MPD (girlfriend had it way bad), long story I dont want to rehash...

I was never in the Armed Forces, however you joined and took the risk of being stationed anywhere... ANYWHERE!!! You have my utmost respect. YOU ARE A VET, DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE!!! I'd buy you whatever drink you want. Thank you so much for having the courage to do what you did!

Some Guy from Neavada

First I'd like to say welcome home and thank you for your service to all our our women veterans.
I can somewhat relate to Staff Sargeant Moss as I too served as a mechanic in the first Gulf War, DS/DS.
All of the support personel were considered "Non mission essential" although we were responsible for setting up a perimeter defense such as deploying claymore mines, concertina wire and defensive gun positions at our check point. We did this everytime we moved to a new site to set up communications. Move, shoot, communicate, all three are needed to keep the mission going.
I guess it is true ,the saying "don't judge me until you've walked in my shoes" or in this case combat boots.
This story has a great meaning to me as our Daughter in law is also an OIF veteran as well as our youngest son. She left the service after being harrassed when she told her chain of command that she was pregnant. She was prepared to deploy a 2ND time after getting her "Family Care Plan" in place. She decided she'd had enough after being told she was like a bunch of other women who got pregnant to skip out on deploying. All I can say is they lost a dedicated and loyal soldier who was willing to give her life so that others could live free.
Respectfully,
Rick

Campbell, I am thrilled that you focused on this important topic but was disappointed that there was not more discussion of the effective cognitive-behavioral PTSD treatments that are being disseminated in the VA. Individuals can recover from PTSD. They can lose their diagnosis. They can regain a good quality of life. There are treatment programs such as the one that Dr. Garovoy runs that address the unique needs of women Veterans and women should be encouraged to learn more about the treatment and programs through avenues such as the website for the National Center for PTSD at http://www.ptsd.va.gov.

I watch band of sisters: PSTD last night and cried, i am a woman Veteran that has been going back and forth with the VA about PSTD. Thank you for doing the story, maybe someone will listen to the women about what they are going through.

To Nicolas Chauvin. Women fought for the right to join the Army a long time ago and even fought in disguise when they couldnt join, but if you are going to say that rude comment to them you can say that to the men as well. They cry PTSD too. and yes both men and women see combat, so you can go into the kitchen and make your own chicken

[God bles them ]
And as Vietnam Era vet's all I can say is good luck

Band of Sister and The Girls Come Marching Home by Author Kirsten Holmstedt are both well written books highlighting these very real stories of very real heros.

I am a USMC combat veteran from the spring of '03. I too struggle with PTSD and was able to view this piece from jail due to my PTSD. I have actually been arrested 6 times since my return home from Iraq in 2003, the only times I have ever been in trouble in my life.

Although I am not female, I do have in common the fact my unit played a support role yet we were placed on the front line a couple times due to logistical errors. We acted in combat twice although the worse part was driving through the aftermath of combat.

While in combat, thoughts and decisions are reduced to reactions executed second nature due to heavy and repetitive training. Experiencing the aftermath of combat is completely different. It gave me time to question and time to feel. It's a life altering experience to watch someone hold on to their last piece of life. I pitied the dying humans but was disgusted at the same time. That's the part that haunts me.

I received a bad conduct discharge for my actions after returning home from war. Therefore, I have not been able to seek necessary treatment for my PTSD because my discharge does not qualify me to receive them. Just recently, my therapist said he could no longer see me because I was a suicide risk to his credentials. I assured him I would not do such a thing yet he insisted on my reckless behavior as actions that speak otherwise.

Part of my own self-help was writing and publishing a memoir, Cpl Cox. I kept a journal while I was deployed which I had refused to open for nearly 5 years following my return. I denied ever being in the Marine Corps up until 2 years ago when I decided I had a story to share. Now I couldn't be more proud of our veterans or more patriotic and quick to offer up my military involvement.

I am currently mapping out a second memoir which will detail the past 7 years of my life. The long road of denial and isolation and the issues that arise due to self-medication. Realizing I have a problem and the long road to recovery. I hope my writing these books will help others like me, and like the "Band of Sisters" on your show come to terms with their own issues, known or unknown.

The biggest thing for me was that I couldn't be told I had a problem. In fact, when people (family and friends) would try to tell me I had a problem I would react on the defense and terminate the relationship. I had to figure it out for myself. I hope my books help others like me figure things out.