NursingLink

A Way To Honor Vets' Moms

Virginian Pilot May 11 2008 by Kathleen Parker - This year American consumers are expected to spend an average of $138.63 each on flowers, cards and gifts for Mother's Day, for a grand total of $15.8 billion. Anna Jarvis never had such excess in mind when in 1914, her idea to honor Mother's resulted in Congress passing a joint resolution establishing Mother's Day. In fact, she despised the commercialization that followed. She merely wanted to honor her mother. What Jarvis hated, is now the norm. Then there are other mothers for whom flowers are of little concern, who gather on Web sites to exchange stories and sympathy for the sons and daughters lost to or damaged by war. One of those is Oklahoma's 2006 Mother of the Year, Cynde Collins-Clark. Her son, Joe, is an Iraq war veteran who returned from his tour of duty in 2004 with severe post-traumic stress disorder. Collins-Clark is a hero, too. Not only has she helped her son, age 24, get back on his feet, but she's done alot of hard work to help other veterans and their families. Although Joe is still disabled and unable to work, Joe is on the mend. He has written a booklet for others, available through a Web site that his mother created ( VeteransFamiliesUnited.org). The Endless Journey Home describes what PTDS looks like , how to find help and how to navigate the VA department. Both Joe and his mother, a licensed professional counselor, are quick to note that the VA is full of caring, qualified people but they assert that "processes" within the bureaucracy need improvement. For starters, most veterans have no idea how to enter the system. Once inside, they'll likely discover that there aren't enough professionals familiar with PTSD symptoms to properlly diagnose the problem. Joe says he was misdiagnosed twice and prescribed addictive medicatios that exacerbated his depression and anxiety. That experience prompted Collins-Clark to work toward expanding the base of qualified counselors available to returning veterans, as well as to push for more counseling "in theatre". Although military men and women do have access to mental health counseling while in a war zone, few take advantage of the service for fear of tarnishing their records or losing their jobs. Consequently, recognizing the trauma of war is often belated. Although exact figures are hard to pin down, at least 20,000 Vietnam veterans are believed to have committed suicide ( and possibly many more who didn't leave notes). The suicide rate among Iraq veterans is twice the rate among non-veterans, a CBS investigation recently found. Help is on the way. A promising new initiative to connect veterans and their families with free mental health counseling was recently launched by Washington DC-area psychologist Barbara Romberg. Through a nonprofit group called Give An Hour ( GiveanHour.org) several hundred licensed psychologists, social workers and counselors in 40 states have volunteered to donate at least one hour a week for a year to veterans in need. So in lieu of flowers, perhaps a donation to a veterans group would be more befitting to honor all the mothers who have given their most precious gift to the rest of us.

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