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Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center social worker Mike Levy, left, holds a group therapy session with veterans coping with post traumatic stress disorder at Singleton Park last Friday. The program has a group session away from the VA hospital every Friday. Seated next to Levy is Ernie Hayes of Roseburg, and, clockwise from left, Rob Neill of Eugene, Chris Sheldon of Pendleton, Duane Wolfe of Bend and Tim O’Donnell of Grants Pass.
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ENLARGE
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While their fellow veterans work out at the YMCA, Duane Wolfe laughs with fellow Vietnam vet Ernie Hays, right, as they exchange war stories with Iraq vet Tim O’Donnell, left. The trio, each dealing with post traumatic stress disorder, take outings together with other Oregon veterans coping with PTSD.
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ENLARGE
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Tim O’Donnell holds coffee in one hand and a journal in the other, as he and veterans Duane Wolfe and Ernie Hayes wait for fellow veterans to finish their workouts at the Roseburg YMCA Thursday morning. The title on his journal says, ‘Attitude is Altitude.’
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Greg Fields became a workaholic.
It came naturally to him after 21 years working as a nurse and a medic. The really long days started when he was in the Army in Kosovo. They continued when he joined the Air Force Reserves because he was afraid he was missing “the big one” after Sept. 11, 2001. After serving in Iraq, he moved to Washington state and kept working 12- to 16-hour days.
Then he moved to Oregon and started working for the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Eight hours a day just wasn’t enough.
“I basically cracked and ran away from home,” he said. “My wife had been telling me for seven years that I had an issue and problems. I needed to get help.”
Scott Scampini, a licensed clinical social worker in Mental Health Services at the VA hospital, talked to Fields about posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Fields was willing to talk, thinking then people would leave him alone.
“I quickly discovered that I had a problem,” he said.
John Sternenberg, a fellow veteran, corrected him. “You have,” he said.
Fields laughed.
“Have,” he amended.
<b>MOVING ON</b>
Unlike state-funded mental health services whose budgets have been drained in recent years by sweeping budget shortfalls, the VA has seen increased funding since 2005, though the VA staff agrees mental health services could always use more money.
It came naturally to him after 21 years working as a nurse and a medic. The really long days started when he was in the Army in Kosovo. They continued when he joined the Air Force Reserves because he was afraid he was missing “the big one” after Sept. 11, 2001. After serving in Iraq, he moved to Washington state and kept working 12- to 16-hour days.
Then he moved to Oregon and started working for the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Eight hours a day just wasn’t enough.
“I basically cracked and ran away from home,” he said. “My wife had been telling me for seven years that I had an issue and problems. I needed to get help.”
Scott Scampini, a licensed clinical social worker in Mental Health Services at the VA hospital, talked to Fields about posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Fields was willing to talk, thinking then people would leave him alone.
“I quickly discovered that I had a problem,” he said.
John Sternenberg, a fellow veteran, corrected him. “You have,” he said.
Fields laughed.
“Have,” he amended.
<b>MOVING ON</b>
Unlike state-funded mental health services whose budgets have been drained in recent years by sweeping budget shortfalls, the VA has seen increased funding since 2005, though the VA staff agrees mental health services could always use more money.
The Roseburg mental health system, which includes clinics in Eugene, Bandon and Brookings, has added 19 positions. The mental health clinic in Roseburg has been remodeled. The VA has also increased outpatient services for PTSD and substance abuse, along with general mental health care and women’s trauma services, said Marie Anderson, the Mental Health Services manager.
With the help of a PTSD program at the Roseburg VA, veterans like Fields and Sternenberg are learning to work through the psychological trauma inflicted by their military experiences.
Depression and PTSD are the two most common mental health problems the VA sees, and they often occur together, said Bryan Yates, the chief of psychiatry.
“They’re anticipating actually more PTSD now,” Yates said. “One of the benefits of body armor is that more people survive the horrors, but then more people are going to end up coming back with more traumatic situations.”
Sternenberg is 24 and worked as an Army helicopter mechanic in Iraq from March to July of 2003.
“I actually started my downslide in September of 2003,” he said. “I was in Korea.”
Much as he disliked being in Iraq, he performed better there, he said. He was bored in Korea, and he couldn’t sleep. He’d get up late and he’d pick fights. He was diagnosed with PTSD and was kicked out of the Army with an honorable discharge.
At home, Sternenberg spent hours upon hours playing violent video games. He worked in bars, then drank in bars, but he had no trouble getting jobs.
“And then I would pick somebody that I work with, and then they would be the enemy,” he said.
With the help of a PTSD program at the Roseburg VA, veterans like Fields and Sternenberg are learning to work through the psychological trauma inflicted by their military experiences.
Depression and PTSD are the two most common mental health problems the VA sees, and they often occur together, said Bryan Yates, the chief of psychiatry.
“They’re anticipating actually more PTSD now,” Yates said. “One of the benefits of body armor is that more people survive the horrors, but then more people are going to end up coming back with more traumatic situations.”
Sternenberg is 24 and worked as an Army helicopter mechanic in Iraq from March to July of 2003.
“I actually started my downslide in September of 2003,” he said. “I was in Korea.”
Much as he disliked being in Iraq, he performed better there, he said. He was bored in Korea, and he couldn’t sleep. He’d get up late and he’d pick fights. He was diagnosed with PTSD and was kicked out of the Army with an honorable discharge.
At home, Sternenberg spent hours upon hours playing violent video games. He worked in bars, then drank in bars, but he had no trouble getting jobs.
“And then I would pick somebody that I work with, and then they would be the enemy,” he said.
So you know ...
The Veterans Affairs Roseburg Healthcare System has inpatient and outpatient treatment for mental health in Roseburg and in other clinics.
From October 2006 to September 2007 in Roseburg: • 150 veterans were treated in the inpatient posttraumatic stress disorder program; the program has 10 to 11 beds, and the program lasts 28 days • 204 veterans attended the 28-day substance abuse program, which has 20 beds • 624 veterans received acute inpatient psychiatry services • 2,034 veterans received outpatient mental health treatment, with more than 14,000 visits From October 2005 to September 2006 in Roseburg: • 125 veterans attended the inpatient PTSD program • 209 veterans attended the substance abuse program • 591 veterans received acute inpatient psychiatry services • 2,111 veterans received oupatient mental health treatment, with more than 13,000 visits • The number of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who attended the PTSD program increased from 21 in fiscal year 2006 to 82 in fiscal year 2007. • About 95 percent of the PTSD program participants graduate from the program. |
He’d move on and repeat the pattern.
Sternenberg heard about the Roseburg VA hospital’s PTSD treatment program while he was in a bar with a high school friend in North Bend. He figured it would help him get 100 percent disability from the VA.
He, too, discovered he has a problem.
“It’s as personalized as fingerprints,” said Scampini, who has been in Roseburg for just over a year, but has been working with trauma patients for more than 30. “Everyone has the print of trauma coming here, but they’re all unique. And so the unique character of our group work and our individual work is to fit the needs of the person who’s here to address very profound changes because of their trauma.”
In the PTSD program, patients with mental illness are asked to set goals, and the treatment is tailored to their situation, Yates said.
“It’s all about patient choices and patient autonomy ... with the ultimate goal of getting somebody back into their life and successful with life the way they want it and not dependent on a medical system to carry them through their life,” Yates said.
<b>DESTRUCTIVE HABITS</b>
Fighting PTSD is not the only battle some veterans wage.
Although it was prohibited, Bob Iverson started drinking while he was an infantryman in the National Guard in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He kept drinking when he got home to Portland.
A year and a half ago, he went into detox. He came to the Roseburg VA for alcohol treatment and heard about the PTSD program.
“When I came to Roseburg, I had the clothes on my back,” he said.
He figured the 28-day program would give him a place to live, and he could look for a job.
“I learned it wasn’t like that,” he said.
Rob Neill was in the same Guard unit as Iverson.
When he came back from Iraq he started going to the University of Oregon, studying architecture.
Sternenberg heard about the Roseburg VA hospital’s PTSD treatment program while he was in a bar with a high school friend in North Bend. He figured it would help him get 100 percent disability from the VA.
He, too, discovered he has a problem.
“It’s as personalized as fingerprints,” said Scampini, who has been in Roseburg for just over a year, but has been working with trauma patients for more than 30. “Everyone has the print of trauma coming here, but they’re all unique. And so the unique character of our group work and our individual work is to fit the needs of the person who’s here to address very profound changes because of their trauma.”
In the PTSD program, patients with mental illness are asked to set goals, and the treatment is tailored to their situation, Yates said.
“It’s all about patient choices and patient autonomy ... with the ultimate goal of getting somebody back into their life and successful with life the way they want it and not dependent on a medical system to carry them through their life,” Yates said.
<b>DESTRUCTIVE HABITS</b>
Fighting PTSD is not the only battle some veterans wage.
Although it was prohibited, Bob Iverson started drinking while he was an infantryman in the National Guard in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He kept drinking when he got home to Portland.
A year and a half ago, he went into detox. He came to the Roseburg VA for alcohol treatment and heard about the PTSD program.
“When I came to Roseburg, I had the clothes on my back,” he said.
He figured the 28-day program would give him a place to live, and he could look for a job.
“I learned it wasn’t like that,” he said.
Rob Neill was in the same Guard unit as Iverson.
When he came back from Iraq he started going to the University of Oregon, studying architecture.
What is posttraumatic stress disorder?
Posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event.
People with PTSD may have the following symptoms or problems: • Reliving the event • Avoiding situations that remind the person of the trauma • Feeling numb • Feeling keyed up and on the lookout for danger • Drinking and drug problems • Feeling hopeless • Employment problems • Relationship problems including divorce and violence • Physical problems PTSD is relatively common among veterans who have seen combat. Experts estimate that: • 30 percent of Vietnam veterans have PTSD • 10 percent of Gulf War veterans have PTSD • 6 to 11 percent of veterans of the Afghanistan war have PTSD • 12 to 20 percent of Iraq war veterans have PTSD Military sexual trauma, which includes sexual harassment or sexual assault, can also cause PTSD. Of the veterans using VA health care, about 23 percent of women reported sexual assault in the military. Fifty-five percent of women and 38 percent of men reported sexual harassment in the military. <i><b>SOURCE:</b> National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder</i> |
By his third year, he was drinking a pint of Scotch every four hours.
“I woke up from being blacked out drunk at school in the detox,” he said.
Scampini talked to Neill, too, about PTSD. He didn’t make it through the program the first time.
“They told me I was welcome back,” he said. “I sabotaged it the first time. I drank, and you’re not allowed to drink in the program.”
Neill, Iverson, Fields and Sternenberg are among 150 veterans who were in the program, which treats 10 to 11 veterans at a time, from October 2006 to September 2007. All four men have completed the PTSD program more than once. They’ve come back to continue the work they started, not because it wasn’t effective, they said.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 15,000 veterans live in Douglas County, and they make up 18.2 percent of the population, compared with the national average of 10.4 percent.
The Veterans Service Office in Roseburg talks to more than 400 veterans each month, officer Mary Newman said. She sees veterans with PTSD and other mental illnesses every day. The office helps veterans file disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We still see World War II veterans that never even knew they had it,” Newman said. “It used to be it was ‘combat fatigue’ or ‘battle neurosis,’ and they didn’t think it happened later.”
Newman thinks Douglas County veterans are particularly lucky to have the hospital here.
“I woke up from being blacked out drunk at school in the detox,” he said.
Scampini talked to Neill, too, about PTSD. He didn’t make it through the program the first time.
“They told me I was welcome back,” he said. “I sabotaged it the first time. I drank, and you’re not allowed to drink in the program.”
Neill, Iverson, Fields and Sternenberg are among 150 veterans who were in the program, which treats 10 to 11 veterans at a time, from October 2006 to September 2007. All four men have completed the PTSD program more than once. They’ve come back to continue the work they started, not because it wasn’t effective, they said.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 15,000 veterans live in Douglas County, and they make up 18.2 percent of the population, compared with the national average of 10.4 percent.
The Veterans Service Office in Roseburg talks to more than 400 veterans each month, officer Mary Newman said. She sees veterans with PTSD and other mental illnesses every day. The office helps veterans file disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We still see World War II veterans that never even knew they had it,” Newman said. “It used to be it was ‘combat fatigue’ or ‘battle neurosis,’ and they didn’t think it happened later.”
Newman thinks Douglas County veterans are particularly lucky to have the hospital here.
“From the time that it was started, the leadership of the facility was very supportive about not being rigid, but actually doing the right thing for veterans at the time,” Yates said.
<b>EXPERIENCING TRAUMA</b>
The veterans in the PTSD program don’t tell their war stories. It’s not the cause of the trauma that’s important, they say, but the feelings that came with it.
“Your preconceived notions of beliefs and everything about yourself and the world around you get turned on their head,” Neill said.
“We believe it’s a benevolent world,” Fields said. “And then you get there and you find out that the world is not a benevolent place.”
Instead of being sad, they get mad.
“Anger is much more easy to deal with than being sad because being sad over there would have gotten us killed,” Iverson said.
Scampini said the trauma men and women experience in war stays with them.
“And so many times it carries over into the relationships in their families,” he said. “They become very overprotective, very angry and irritable.”
The same behaviors and emotions that kept them alive in combat don’t work here, Scampini said.
The veterans find ways to relive their trauma, and they punish themselves with guilt, detachment, substance abuse or work.
“It’s a way of self-abuse,” Fields said, “a way of making yourself feel like crap over the stuff that you’ve done and the stuff that you’ve seen. Punishment for leaving your friends behind, punishment for —”
“Not doing enough,” Sternenberg said.
<b>EXPERIENCING TRAUMA</b>
The veterans in the PTSD program don’t tell their war stories. It’s not the cause of the trauma that’s important, they say, but the feelings that came with it.
“Your preconceived notions of beliefs and everything about yourself and the world around you get turned on their head,” Neill said.
“We believe it’s a benevolent world,” Fields said. “And then you get there and you find out that the world is not a benevolent place.”
Instead of being sad, they get mad.
“Anger is much more easy to deal with than being sad because being sad over there would have gotten us killed,” Iverson said.
Scampini said the trauma men and women experience in war stays with them.
“And so many times it carries over into the relationships in their families,” he said. “They become very overprotective, very angry and irritable.”
The same behaviors and emotions that kept them alive in combat don’t work here, Scampini said.
The veterans find ways to relive their trauma, and they punish themselves with guilt, detachment, substance abuse or work.
“It’s a way of self-abuse,” Fields said, “a way of making yourself feel like crap over the stuff that you’ve done and the stuff that you’ve seen. Punishment for leaving your friends behind, punishment for —”
“Not doing enough,” Sternenberg said.
“Survivor’s guilt,” Neill said. “That’s what it’s called.”
“In the benevolent world it’s wrong to kill,” Fields continued. “It’s wrong to do a lot of the things that were required. It’s punishment for doing the wrong thing.”
“War is not a normal situation for human beings,” Sternenberg said. “It’s not something that naturally occurs.”
<b>GETTING TREATMENT</b>
It took being in the PTSD program for the four veterans to realize they had a problem.
That’s not uncommon.
“There’s still a large number of combat soldiers and survivors of Iraq and Afghanistan who are choosing not to attend treatment and delaying the process for whatever reasons,” Scampini said, “and they will continue to become worse over time, which is what all the evidence shows.”
Veterans want to get home to their families and their jobs, thinking then everything will be OK, Yates said.
“And oftentimes, it’s after being home and everything isn’t OK ... that they finally end up saying, ‘Well, maybe I need to go get some help,’” Yates said.
The PTSD program is one way to get treatment, but it isn’t easy.
“You have to be willing to do the work,” Iverson said. “There’s no magic, all-better sort of thing. You’re looking at the ugliest parts of your life. And when I say that, I’m looking at the ugliest parts of my life for what they are.”
Now Iverson is accepting his PTSD as part of his life. One of his symptoms is what’s called hyperarousal, where the senses are heightened all of the time. He’s putting that to good use as a cook, where he can identify ingredients just by smell, and in photography.
“It’s always going to be a part of me, but what am I going to do with it?” he said.
The program, the veterans say, doesn’t just treat their symptoms. While medication can be useful, all four men are learning to look at the causes of anger, lack of sleep and depression.
“For me, most of it is pain,” Fields said, “pain over the decisions I had to make about other people’s lives.”
In addition to the monthlong program, all four men attend group sessions with other veterans. It’s an important part of getting better.
They also look to older veterans. Vietnam-era veterans in particular have been mentors, sometimes giving up their beds in the PTSD program so younger veterans could get treatment sooner.
“They give them a lot of support and a lot of history and experiences,” Scampini said, “personal experiences of what happens without treatment, what the problems are and how they emerge and how much worse they become. ... It helps their treatment as well to be able to attend to and support others in their treatment.”
<b>THE FUTURE</b>
“If I could boil it down, the program is about being uncomfortable,” Iverson said.
Veterans with PTSD don’t expect that the condition will go away, but they can learn how to manage it.
“All of us have been in positions where we were uncomfortable and it was life or death,” Fields said. “And it’s kind of about teaching you that you can be uncomfortable and it’s not life and death.”
It’s also about learning to get on with life, even amid the inner turmoil caused by PTSD and other military-related psychological problems.
Fields is planning to medically retire so he can slow down. For his part, Sternenberg plans to become a pharmacy technician.
Neill wants to finish his art degree and then teach, while Iverson is cooking for a living.
Every day he looks at a plaque all the graduates of the PTSD program receive. It says: “The best revenge to war is to live well.”
“For me,” Iverson said, “it’s learning not to fight anymore and learning that I can be peaceful.”
• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.
“In the benevolent world it’s wrong to kill,” Fields continued. “It’s wrong to do a lot of the things that were required. It’s punishment for doing the wrong thing.”
“War is not a normal situation for human beings,” Sternenberg said. “It’s not something that naturally occurs.”
<b>GETTING TREATMENT</b>
It took being in the PTSD program for the four veterans to realize they had a problem.
That’s not uncommon.
“There’s still a large number of combat soldiers and survivors of Iraq and Afghanistan who are choosing not to attend treatment and delaying the process for whatever reasons,” Scampini said, “and they will continue to become worse over time, which is what all the evidence shows.”
Veterans want to get home to their families and their jobs, thinking then everything will be OK, Yates said.
“And oftentimes, it’s after being home and everything isn’t OK ... that they finally end up saying, ‘Well, maybe I need to go get some help,’” Yates said.
The PTSD program is one way to get treatment, but it isn’t easy.
“You have to be willing to do the work,” Iverson said. “There’s no magic, all-better sort of thing. You’re looking at the ugliest parts of your life. And when I say that, I’m looking at the ugliest parts of my life for what they are.”
Now Iverson is accepting his PTSD as part of his life. One of his symptoms is what’s called hyperarousal, where the senses are heightened all of the time. He’s putting that to good use as a cook, where he can identify ingredients just by smell, and in photography.
“It’s always going to be a part of me, but what am I going to do with it?” he said.
The program, the veterans say, doesn’t just treat their symptoms. While medication can be useful, all four men are learning to look at the causes of anger, lack of sleep and depression.
“For me, most of it is pain,” Fields said, “pain over the decisions I had to make about other people’s lives.”
In addition to the monthlong program, all four men attend group sessions with other veterans. It’s an important part of getting better.
They also look to older veterans. Vietnam-era veterans in particular have been mentors, sometimes giving up their beds in the PTSD program so younger veterans could get treatment sooner.
“They give them a lot of support and a lot of history and experiences,” Scampini said, “personal experiences of what happens without treatment, what the problems are and how they emerge and how much worse they become. ... It helps their treatment as well to be able to attend to and support others in their treatment.”
<b>THE FUTURE</b>
“If I could boil it down, the program is about being uncomfortable,” Iverson said.
Veterans with PTSD don’t expect that the condition will go away, but they can learn how to manage it.
“All of us have been in positions where we were uncomfortable and it was life or death,” Fields said. “And it’s kind of about teaching you that you can be uncomfortable and it’s not life and death.”
It’s also about learning to get on with life, even amid the inner turmoil caused by PTSD and other military-related psychological problems.
Fields is planning to medically retire so he can slow down. For his part, Sternenberg plans to become a pharmacy technician.
Neill wants to finish his art degree and then teach, while Iverson is cooking for a living.
Every day he looks at a plaque all the graduates of the PTSD program receive. It says: “The best revenge to war is to live well.”
“For me,” Iverson said, “it’s learning not to fight anymore and learning that I can be peaceful.”
• You can reach reporter Teresa Williams at 957-4230 or via e-mail at twilliams@newsreview.info.
Mental Health Resources for Veterans Service Office
The Veterans Service Office advises veterans, their survivors or dependent parents about obtaining county, state and federal benefits, including hospitalization, education, compensation, pensions, home loans, insurance and property tax exemptions.
The main office in Room 105B of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1036 S.E. Douglas Ave., Roseburg, is open for walk-ins from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday. Appointments may be made for new claims and appeals from Tuesday through Thursday. Officers are available at other locations: Yoncalla Community Center — 9 a.m. to noon, second Friday of the month Reedsport County Annex — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., third Wednesday of the month Canyonville City Hall council chamber, 9 a.m. to noon, fourth Wednesday of the month Information: 440-4219; (800) 224-1619, ext. 4219; www.co.douglas.or.us/veterans. <b>VA Roseburg Healthcare System</b> The Roseburg campus offers primary care and hospital services in medicine, surgery and mental health. It also operates a Community Reintegration Service Center in Eugene, consisting of a homeless program, a homeless housing program, and substance abuse and vocational rehabilitation services. The hospital is located at 913 N.W. Garden Valley Blvd., Roseburg. Information: 440-1000; (800) 549-8387; www.visn20.med.va.gov/roseburg/index.asp. <b>Suicide Prevention Hotline</b> The Veterans Affairs Department has established a 24-hour national hotline for veterans in crisis, (800)-273-TALK (8255). |
