"Woefully Inadequate"

What an understatement!

At my last VA Doctors appointment I was rushed in and out. She was backlogged and running behind. She managed to convey that she was going to be taking a much needed, 6 week vacation for relaxation and fun.

Can't burn those VA shrinks out. At least she has job security.

U.S. troops returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer "daunting and growing" psychological problems -- with nearly 40 percent of soldiers, a third of Marines and half of the National Guard members reporting symptoms -- but the military's cadre of mental-health workers is "woefully inadequate" to meet their needs, a Pentagon task force reported yesterday. The congressionally mandated task force called for urgent and sweeping changes to a peacetime military mental health system strained by today's wars, finding that hundreds of thousands of the more than 1 million U.S. troops who have served at least one war-zone tour in Iraq or Afghanistan are showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety or other potentially disabling mental disorders.

I had to laugh, check out the spin put on it. An Achievable Vision: Report of the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health.

UPDATE:

U.S. commanders in Iraq are rejecting a recommendation by Army mental health experts that troops receive a one-month break for every three months in a combat zone, despite unprecedented levels of continuous fighting and worsening risks of mental stress.

Man these soldiers or their families aren't getting any breaks. And the ones that do make it through unharmed and unfazed, my hat is off to you. You're a stronger person than I am.

Image courtesy of VA Watchdog dot Org