To Treat Combat PTSD, the VA Must Have a Variety of Programs

14,288 signatures toward our 30,000 goal

47.626666666666665% Complete

Sponsor: The Veterans Site

Tell the VA that there's more than one way to treat Combat PTSD.

To Treat Combat PTSD, the VA Must Have a Variety of Programs

Combat PTSD.

You’ve seen those words before, on news tickers, in Hollywood films, on trending tabs, even on the covers of scientific journals. You’ve been seeing those words for years now, haven’t you?

What you may not have seen, or heard, is that Combat PTSD is the leading contributor to a staggering number: twenty-two. Twenty-two. According to a study conducted by Veterans Affairs in 2013, twenty-two United States veterans commit suicide every day.

Since the 2013 study, no study has found the suicide rate to be declining. Which means that we aren’t doing a good enough job for our veterans. To combat this trend, the VA needs to change and improve. Quite simply, the programs currently offered by the VA — including medication, psychotherapy and group therapy — are not what every veteran currently needs. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all model to treat Combat PTSD.

Combat PTSD is both a psychological and physiological condition. The stress put on the sufferer’s brain actually changes its physical landscape, including a 5-10% decrease in gray matter, the part of the brain responsible for relaying neurological messages to and from the body. Also affected are the hippocampus (short-term memory) and the prefrontal cortex (emotional response).

What if there were ways to not only repair what has been lost, but ways that our veterans could find peace? What if, instead of a telephone hotline and a refillable orange bottle, there were programs that granted them access to garden spaces, and to the arts, and to exercise therapy like yoga or running? What if there was a way to save veterans’ lives?

Sign the petition below to tell Secretary of Veteran Affairs to explore other options to treat Combat PTSD.

The Petition

<p>Dear Secretary of Veteran Affairs,</p><p>According to a study conducted by Veterans Affairs in 2013, twenty-two United States veterans commit suicide every day. Twenty-two. Considering that there are now more programs for suffering veterans than there ever have been, it's hard to believe that Combat PTSD is still the leading factor that drives veterans to suicide. Together, we need to make a change. We should start with where the most veterans go for help: the VA.</p><p>The problem is not that the VA doesn't offer help; the problem is that the programs currently offered by the VA are not what every veteran needs. The VA's programs that address Combat PTSD — including medication, psychotherapy and group therapy — may work for some returning service members. For others, though, the current model just doesn't work.</p><p>Some veterans instead need something like Yoga Warriors International, who has had success in 'retraining the fight-or-flight response' so that when confronting a situation that triggers their memories, they’re able to remain calm.</p><p>Others may need the physical act of running, which a study done at Cambridge University reported to grow gray matter, a crucial part of the brain that can sometimes decrease with the onset of Combat PTSD.</p><p>Some veterans may need the catharsis that can come from writing, painting, or playing a piece of music. Others may need something like Veterans Healing Farm, where veterans escape the noisy world and are allowed to put their hands in the soil they fought so hard to defend.</p><p>Having the VA act as a bridge to these programs would be beneficial, but think about if the VA offered these programs. Veterans could be excited to go to the VA. Veterans could excited to go to therapy. Peace could be found. Pride could be restored. Progress toward having that 'twenty-two' become "zero" could be jumpstarted by the VA's efforts to revitalize the offered programs to treat Combat PTSD.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p>Sincerely,</p>