Sunday, March 11, 2007

What Happens When The Providers Get Tired

A Newsweek article on MSNBC talks about the issues that the health care providers are starting to see after treating many combat veterans. Week after week they are sharing the pain of the trauma with the patients. Week after week, they can suffer with the imagery, the feelings and the memories of what they have discussed.

Here's a short excerpt... The full article is titled "To Share In The Horror."

Night is when suicidal vets usually show up at the emergency room of the San Francisco VA Medical Center. But a few weeks ago, the ER had one who came in at 10 a.m., frantic and saying he had a gun. "He was haunted, desperate," says Chad Peterson, medical director of the center's posttraumatic-stress-disorder team. "He was going to be redeployed to Iraq and said suicide was his only way out." Peterson managed to talk the man out of killing himself and into a program, but weeks later the counselor is still struggling with memories of what the man told him. "How can you sleep after something like that?" he asks. Peterson has spent thousands of hours treating vets who came home from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD, and their horror stories have gradually rubbed off on him. "I'll hear about the things they've seen or done, the close calls, and my pulse quickens," he says. "I'll get agitated or feel hopeless because I can't take this person's pain away."

The article goes on to discuss the issue, labled secondary PTSD, vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue, or the Army's choice, provider fatigue.

Certainly the doctors, nurses, therapists and counselors workin with these wounded souls suffer along with them.

I'm not sure if you can imagine how difficult it can be for loved ones to deal with their wounded spouses, siblings, children or parents. The person they knew has returned in a different mental state, and often it's not one that they're comfortable with.

They suffer as well.

I've had some interesting conversations the last few days as we are assembling this program. It is truly going to be a team effort, and I appreciate those who have e-mailed to let us know what kind of help that you are looking for.

Although it always takes longer than we'd like, big things will be coming soon.

To your healing.

Mike

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