Soldiers Returning Home – A New Discovery

Some of you may have on soldiers returning home and some of the issues encountered by them as well as family members.

There is a new medical discovery that has been getting a lot of publicity and it is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or C.T.E.  This is a generative condition found in athletes who are playing sports where head trauma is endured.  We are now finding this condition present in autopsies of soldiers who have committed suicide believed to be from P.T.S.D.  This occurs when the brain is physically challenged by the areas that control impulses, judgment, multitasking, memory and emotions.  This is due to a buildup of proteins that destroys the cells throughout the brain.  Could the abundance of suicides among veterans be the result?

This new discovery, although extremely important is bitter sweet.  We may now have medical information that may help us make more informed diagnoses but, the sad news is that C.T.E. usually develops in midlife after exposure.  We are finding this more in the Veteran’s from Iraq and Afghan because they are frequently exposed to blasts, sending shock waves to the brain causing it to crash into the skull.

There is a program called “A Soldier's Project”.  It offers free confidential mental health counseling to military service members and family.  The Project offers help by licensed, seasoned clinicians.  Their toll free number is 877-576-5343.  Their email is info@thesoldiersproject.org.