Comments on: Heroes in Pain http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/ Dr. Phil- Start A Change Reaction Sun, 19 May 2013 02:33:16 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Julie http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-160527 Julie Mon, 06 May 2013 18:18:30 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-160527 Dear Dr.Phil; my family became close friends with a police officer who onced patroled our neighborhood while we were living in Savannah Georgia. This officer became near and dear to us because he was one of the few cops who actually did his job. He not only gained the respect of the grown ups but the teenagers and the small kids as well. Shortly before we moved from Savannah, he was severely injured in the line of duty and almost lost his life during an under cover drug sting. He was knocked out by a drug dealer and then thrown out of a moving car. The drug dealers then backed up and ran over him with the car. Dr.Phil this man lost his job due to the injuries he received, and when the doctors told him and his department that he will never be able to work again, his department thanked him by firing him even though he had over Twelve Years of service. He has had numerious operations, including a Spinal Cord Stimulator Implant placed in him. He has take Morphine, Lyrica, Nuycenta. as well as other pain pills each day. Dr.Phil he is wanting to take some courses to become a Mediator so he can help kids with special education needs, but he can not afford the Fifteen Thousand Dollars for the courses nor the computer and other items like books and his former department refuses to give him anything but the workers compensation and meds that they have no other the choice but to provide. Sir, I am asking if you know of anyone who maybe able to and willing to help him. I am providing his name and state below in case you wish to contact him. I am just praying that you will be able to find him some help with his dreams or with maybe getting his retirement benefits. Thanks, Julie Floyd. Officer J.A.Williams Georgia Dear Dr.Phil; my family became close friends with a police officer who onced patroled our neighborhood while we were living in Savannah Georgia. This officer became near and dear to us because he was one of the few cops who actually did his job. He not only gained the respect of the grown ups but the teenagers and the small kids as well. Shortly before we moved from Savannah, he was severely injured in the line of duty and almost lost his life during an under cover drug sting. He was knocked out by a drug dealer and then thrown out of a moving car. The drug dealers then backed up and ran over him with the car.
Dr.Phil this man lost his job due to the injuries he received, and when the doctors told him and his department that he will never be able to work again, his department thanked him by firing him even though he had over Twelve Years of service. He has had numerious operations, including a Spinal Cord Stimulator Implant placed in him. He has take Morphine, Lyrica, Nuycenta. as well as other pain pills each day.
Dr.Phil he is wanting to take some courses to become a Mediator so he can help kids with special education needs, but he can not afford the Fifteen Thousand Dollars for the courses nor the computer and other items like books and his former department refuses to give him anything but the workers compensation and meds that they have no other the choice but to provide.
Sir, I am asking if you know of anyone who maybe able to and willing to help him. I am providing his name and state below in case you wish to contact him. I am just praying that you will be able to find him some help with his dreams or with maybe getting his retirement benefits. Thanks, Julie Floyd.

Officer J.A.Williams
Georgia

]]> By: Elly Taylor http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-130174 Elly Taylor Tue, 13 Nov 2012 02:27:25 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-130174 It's not only the returning vets who are suffering, it's the families as well. I interviewed many military wives for this story, their families just as 'broken' as their husbands. Good on you Dr Phil for bringing attention to this very important issue. Silence just makes it worse. http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-wellbeing/beautiful-broken-men-20121106-28uw4.html It’s not only the returning vets who are suffering, it’s the families as well. I interviewed many military wives for this story, their families just as ‘broken’ as their husbands. Good on you Dr Phil for bringing attention to this very important issue. Silence just makes it worse.

http://www.dailylife.com.au/health-and-fitness/dl-wellbeing/beautiful-broken-men-20121106-28uw4.html

]]> By: Shack. http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-128473 Shack. Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:16:03 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-128473 Dr Phil and fellow readers i am a 5 year veteran. all it took for me to receive the lovely gift of PTSD was 1 fifteen month tour in Mosul Iraq. i used to be that goofball that said or did things close to the edge, but never quite went over it. very confident in my skills as a welder, mechanic and fabricator, but the ironic part i was a hopeless romantic and terribly shy around the girl i had my eyes on. now after Iraq i have discovered that i hold grudges, not over what people think or believe or even act, to an extent. but when they don't keep their word. my retirement from the military was my choice after i had gotten into a situation that caused me to have a black out type flashback. it was not fun and i would not wish it on ANYONE. after i had been calmed down and removed from the situation i had realized that i had let my issues get the better of me, and in doing so i had lost the trust of everyone i served with in my unit. and i can honestly say i do not blame them. after that i told my 1st Sergeant exactly " i would still love to serve for 20 plus years, but i don't need to be the reason that my fellow soldiers are watching their back, i don't want them to be in combat and worrying as much about what i am doing as the enemy, they need to be able to do their job, and with my situation and what has happened they would not be able to do that. i do not want to retire, but in life we must do things we don't want to, for ourselves and for others, i need to get out so that i don't have a chance to cause anymore harm like this in the military." my CO and 1st Sgt were moved by this and pushed for an honorable discharge which i received and when it came time for me to leave the army i thank them both. to this day my sleeping pattern, if it exists is entirely random, in order to combat this i stay as physically busy as possible. it's amazing what you can do when your body wants to move and will not let you sleep for 36 hours. i am also always constantly vigilant, i notice everything around me, and for a short while "Catalog" it in my mind, trips to crowded places like Walmart are a nightmare for me, especially between the hours of 9-5. i HAVE to be with a trusted friend or loved one or i won't make it through the 5 minutes it takes me to grab the milk, pay for it and get the hell out which oddly enough with my rather shameless attitude and demeanor most of my friends find going to walmart with me absolutely hilarious and when they laugh at what i do/behave like, i start to laugh. it's liberating. also people behaving badly or disrespectfully, of anyone, turns me into a scrawny rage filled temper with no fuze. and to this end i have unfortunately damaged a few friendships whom never realized that when this goes off nothing is safe. as much of a fragile psyche as i have, i also have an iron will so to speak. even after PTSD has afflicted me for the past 3 years i can honestly say that i have NEVER hit a woman or a child and i intend to keep it that way. i will walk away from it before it gets physical, not because i am afraid of " what if"s or " maybe"s i walk away because i KNOW what will happen. and i do not wish to expose anyone to it. yes i do open or conceal carry a firearm on a daily basis, in fact i don't leave my bed without putting it in it's holster on my hip or under my arm. but i have never used it to harm anyone. oddly enough several of my friends only tolerate me while i am at a range target shooting, i even have taught several friends how to use a firearm in the most safe manner possible. most of my friends do keep me at arms length unless i am busy working on something, be it gunsmithing or working on one of my vehicles or going to a range and plinking at targets. but with all these possible problems and issues all of my friends know that if they call me needing help, as soon as they tell me where they are at i will be out the door to go help them, be it a ride or a shoulder to cry on, they know when they need me i will be there. my current girlfriend is a nurse and has a basic understanding of PTSD and i do my level best to educate her on ALL of it, not just my symptoms. i have the fear of crowds, always on 150% guard all the time, if i sleep it's with one eye open, i do have much hate in my heart. i do have reflex like reactions to a lot of things but something to really pay attention to is the Muscle Memory that the Military uses to get us to be soldiers, marines , airmen and sailors. it's like tying your shoe. you do it over 1000 times and it becomes automatic, a reflex, with no thought process. but you can also program it on your own. even with the egg shell psyche of mine i have done my own work and my own thing to give me some positive reflexes. so now when my soon to be wife starts to make me upset or angry, which is rare and always unintentional for her, i grab her hips and kiss her. and she knows that when i do this in the middle of the conversation it's her cue to be a bit more careful and change the subject. without offending her or hurting her. another thing to consider is even if you can't control certain things like your sleeping patterns or temper you can aim them if you try hard enough. i've done well enough on my own to be able to aim it away from people or other living creatures. but i have used it to defend a friend of mine against someone who was wielding a knife trying to rob her. she saw what i could do, and how i couldn't control it. but she also so how i could give it a positive direction. my sleepless nights i study things between when i was 14 and now i've built everything from a jeep to a tank to a model ( no nuclear material) of a nuclear reactor, to starting my own gunsmithing business. those sleepless nights give me time to do lengthy research and even use my meager math skills to figure out every dimension and measurement needed to make a custom one of a kind firearm. the VA's solution to my problem was to put me on over 80 DIFFERENT medications over a 2 year period. needless to say my bodies ability to use any kind of medication is shot now as almost none of the medications out there will work on me. i was blessed from birth with an immunity to Opiates which includes Morhpine and Methadone so most killers don't work on me, and with the VA's meddling nothing works on me aside from vitamin pills. i had to find my own way to deal with it. so i became a rather shameless person. it took time, but i've told the truth to everyone, no matter what it was or how embarrassing some people would find it. i admit to everything i do. including the things i have done in iraq. and the missus loves it. i also became not only a productive member of society but a super productive person. i help others without any pay or reimbursement because getting me out and moving helps me enough that i don't need or want pay. i am 25 years old and already at a Master Gunsmith level of work with my shop, which i had built myself from the ground up and the VA gave me the schooling for. i work on no less than 6 completely different vehicles through out the week that i or my parents own and help repair and modify a barn that my parents own. lastly the absolute biggest thing that helps me - is having a caring enough family/group of friends to understand my problems and not let it get to them. yes they are careful around certain subject just to be safe but all in all they do a damn fine job of putting up with me and my new eccentricities. an add on to that is my soon to be wife. she loves me unconditionally she doesn't mind it when i have a nightmare and roll over and wrap my arms around her to keep her close, or when i get ready to jump the next guy that looks at her in that certain way. but she is always there comforting me. that's what it took for ME to find succeess, 3 years of hell that was my military retirement process that i compared to the 15 month deployed that didn't seem so bad. and i finally found " my ice cream truck" as Christopher Titus so eloquently put it. but what works for me may not work for you. every one is different, their life before , during and after deployment/PTSD all affects us in different ways. and therefore our PTSD will affect us differently as well. the key to it all is finding out what works for YOU, not the last guy with PTSD or the next one. all of us combat veterans are in it together. and i hope that after reading this you start to think about a couple things that help you, and start trying to accomplish them, or follow through with them. it takes a while and getting used to it but it could be the start of getting you back into as normal a life as possible and happy with it as well. Dr Phil and fellow readers
i am a 5 year veteran. all it took for me to receive the lovely gift of PTSD was 1 fifteen month tour in Mosul Iraq. i used to be that goofball that said or did things close to the edge, but never quite went over it. very confident in my skills as a welder, mechanic and fabricator, but the ironic part i was a hopeless romantic and terribly shy around the girl i had my eyes on. now after Iraq i have discovered that i hold grudges, not over what people think or believe or even act, to an extent. but when they don’t keep their word. my retirement from the military was my choice after i had gotten into a situation that caused me to have a black out type flashback. it was not fun and i would not wish it on ANYONE. after i had been calmed down and removed from the situation i had realized that i had let my issues get the better of me, and in doing so i had lost the trust of everyone i served with in my unit. and i can honestly say i do not blame them. after that i told my 1st Sergeant exactly ” i would still love to serve for 20 plus years, but i don’t need to be the reason that my fellow soldiers are watching their back, i don’t want them to be in combat and worrying as much about what i am doing as the enemy, they need to be able to do their job, and with my situation and what has happened they would not be able to do that. i do not want to retire, but in life we must do things we don’t want to, for ourselves and for others, i need to get out so that i don’t have a chance to cause anymore harm like this in the military.” my CO and 1st Sgt were moved by this and pushed for an honorable discharge which i received and when it came time for me to leave the army i thank them both. to this day my sleeping pattern, if it exists is entirely random, in order to combat this i stay as physically busy as possible. it’s amazing what you can do when your body wants to move and will not let you sleep for 36 hours. i am also always constantly vigilant, i notice everything around me, and for a short while “Catalog” it in my mind, trips to crowded places like Walmart are a nightmare for me, especially between the hours of 9-5. i HAVE to be with a trusted friend or loved one or i won’t make it through the 5 minutes it takes me to grab the milk, pay for it and get the hell out which oddly enough with my rather shameless attitude and demeanor most of my friends find going to walmart with me absolutely hilarious and when they laugh at what i do/behave like, i start to laugh. it’s liberating. also people behaving badly or disrespectfully, of anyone, turns me into a scrawny rage filled temper with no fuze. and to this end i have unfortunately damaged a few friendships whom never realized that when this goes off nothing is safe. as much of a fragile psyche as i have, i also have an iron will so to speak. even after PTSD has afflicted me for the past 3 years i can honestly say that i have NEVER hit a woman or a child and i intend to keep it that way. i will walk away from it before it gets physical, not because i am afraid of ” what if”s or ” maybe”s i walk away because i KNOW what will happen. and i do not wish to expose anyone to it. yes i do open or conceal carry a firearm on a daily basis, in fact i don’t leave my bed without putting it in it’s holster on my hip or under my arm. but i have never used it to harm anyone. oddly enough several of my friends only tolerate me while i am at a range target shooting, i even have taught several friends how to use a firearm in the most safe manner possible. most of my friends do keep me at arms length unless i am busy working on something, be it gunsmithing or working on one of my vehicles or going to a range and plinking at targets. but with all these possible problems and issues all of my friends know that if they call me needing help, as soon as they tell me where they are at i will be out the door to go help them, be it a ride or a shoulder to cry on, they know when they need me i will be there. my current girlfriend is a nurse and has a basic understanding of PTSD and i do my level best to educate her on ALL of it, not just my symptoms. i have the fear of crowds, always on 150% guard all the time, if i sleep it’s with one eye open, i do have much hate in my heart. i do have reflex like reactions to a lot of things but something to really pay attention to is the Muscle Memory that the Military uses to get us to be soldiers, marines , airmen and sailors. it’s like tying your shoe. you do it over 1000 times and it becomes automatic, a reflex, with no thought process. but you can also program it on your own. even with the egg shell psyche of mine i have done my own work and my own thing to give me some positive reflexes. so now when my soon to be wife starts to make me upset or angry, which is rare and always unintentional for her, i grab her hips and kiss her. and she knows that when i do this in the middle of the conversation it’s her cue to be a bit more careful and change the subject. without offending her or hurting her. another thing to consider is even if you can’t control certain things like your sleeping patterns or temper you can aim them if you try hard enough. i’ve done well enough on my own to be able to aim it away from people or other living creatures. but i have used it to defend a friend of mine against someone who was wielding a knife trying to rob her. she saw what i could do, and how i couldn’t control it. but she also so how i could give it a positive direction. my sleepless nights i study things between when i was 14 and now i’ve built everything from a jeep to a tank to a model ( no nuclear material) of a nuclear reactor, to starting my own gunsmithing business. those sleepless nights give me time to do lengthy research and even use my meager math skills to figure out every dimension and measurement needed to make a custom one of a kind firearm.

the VA’s solution to my problem was to put me on over 80 DIFFERENT medications over a 2 year period. needless to say my bodies ability to use any kind of medication is shot now as almost none of the medications out there will work on me. i was blessed from birth with an immunity to Opiates which includes Morhpine and Methadone so most killers don’t work on me, and with the VA’s meddling nothing works on me aside from vitamin pills.

i had to find my own way to deal with it. so i became a rather shameless person. it took time, but i’ve told the truth to everyone, no matter what it was or how embarrassing some people would find it. i admit to everything i do. including the things i have done in iraq. and the missus loves it. i also became not only a productive member of society but a super productive person. i help others without any pay or reimbursement because getting me out and moving helps me enough that i don’t need or want pay. i am 25 years old and already at a Master Gunsmith level of work with my shop, which i had built myself from the ground up and the VA gave me the schooling for. i work on no less than 6 completely different vehicles through out the week that i or my parents own and help repair and modify a barn that my parents own.

lastly the absolute biggest thing that helps me – is having a caring enough family/group of friends to understand my problems and not let it get to them. yes they are careful around certain subject just to be safe but all in all they do a damn fine job of putting up with me and my new eccentricities. an add on to that is my soon to be wife. she loves me unconditionally she doesn’t mind it when i have a nightmare and roll over and wrap my arms around her to keep her close, or when i get ready to jump the next guy that looks at her in that certain way. but she is always there comforting me. that’s what it took for ME to find succeess, 3 years of hell that was my military retirement process that i compared to the 15 month deployed that didn’t seem so bad. and i finally found ” my ice cream truck” as Christopher Titus so eloquently put it.

but what works for me may not work for you. every one is different, their life before , during and after deployment/PTSD all affects us in different ways. and therefore our PTSD will affect us differently as well. the key to it all is finding out what works for YOU, not the last guy with PTSD or the next one. all of us combat veterans are in it together. and i hope that after reading this you start to think about a couple things that help you, and start trying to accomplish them, or follow through with them. it takes a while and getting used to it but it could be the start of getting you back into as normal a life as possible and happy with it as well.

]]> By: Dee http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-126915 Dee Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:45:45 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-126915 My young Marine come home from Desert Storm with so many terrors and a lifethreatening problem that almost took his life at his first post state-side.. The corps dischaarged him and sent him on his way to many years of trying to get back in the 'real' world. Many years of frustration passed befor he would come back home but he was not the same person who left from High Schoo to become a MARINE .I am so proud of him he is still my 'jarhead'but..he is still on the bettle field even today. Cars backfiring, thunder too loud fighting stress all the time and working through the health problems. You can't always see the damage and many don't understand....war does something in your mind...Desert Storm troops are dieying every day from illnesses the doctors can't explain and their loved ones pray to be strong for them. My young Marine come home from Desert Storm with so many terrors and a lifethreatening problem that almost took his life at his first post state-side.. The corps dischaarged him and sent him on his way to many years of trying to get back in the ‘real’ world. Many years of frustration passed befor he would come back home but he was not the same person who left from High Schoo to become a MARINE .I am so proud of him he is still my ‘jarhead’but..he is still on the bettle field even today. Cars backfiring, thunder too loud fighting stress all the time and working through the health problems.
You can’t always see the damage and many don’t understand….war does something in your mind…Desert Storm troops are dieying every day from illnesses the doctors can’t explain and their loved ones pray to be strong for them.

]]> By: Mary http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-125013 Mary Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:07:37 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-125013 My son was deployed and unfortunately came home a different person. He is one of the "monster's" you refer too. Yes, he has PTSD, but he is a wonderful man and a good father. His life has changed from what he saw and some of the things he had to do. He was injured and now is 100% disabled. But I am very proud of him and the fact that he was willing to fight in another land so that our country might not endure the effects of war. He has been home for three years and has worked with his demons. It got really rough at one point but he has learned how to handle things and has come a long way. He even is there to help other vets when needed. I have always liked your show and thought it had merit. But now I'm not so sure I ever want to watch it again. Because of my work schedule I haven't got to see it as much as I would have liked so this episode I missed. Probably a good thing. My TV might not be working after viewing it. I sincerely hope you will make a public apology for this negative picture of our military heroes if you have not already done so. I am appalled that someone in your position would be so heartless to both them and their families. I have said my piece and I'm hoping you will be the kind person I have always though you to be and say yours in a positive way to those who have served our country. My son was deployed and unfortunately came home a different person. He is one of the “monster’s” you refer too. Yes, he has PTSD, but he is a wonderful man and a good father. His life has changed from what he saw and some of the things he had to do. He was injured and now is 100% disabled. But I am very proud of him and the fact that he was willing to fight in another land so that our country might not endure the effects of war. He has been home for three years and has worked with his demons. It got really rough at one point but he has learned how to handle things and has come a long way. He even is there to help other vets when needed. I have always liked your show and thought it had merit. But now I’m not so sure I ever want to watch it again. Because of my work schedule I haven’t got to see it as much as I would have liked so this episode I missed. Probably a good thing. My TV might not be working after viewing it. I sincerely hope you will make a public apology for this negative picture of our military heroes if you have not already done so. I am appalled that someone in your position would be so heartless to both them and their families. I have said my piece and I’m hoping you will be the kind person I have always though you to be and say yours in a positive way to those who have served our country.

]]> By: Andre http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-124925 Andre Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:25:57 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-124925 As a soldier who is currently being discharged for PTSD and other issues, I was shocked to see soldiers on the internet stating that the original name of the show was Hero's to Monster's. As a so called "Dr", I feel that you should have known better then to allow even the slightest inclination that we were monsters. Yes, it has stirred up alot of emotions in the military world and we already feel ousted by a world that doesn't understand. PTSD has been recorded as far back as the civil war. When I returned home it tore apart my family and it was our dirty secret. I didn't want anyone to know. I felt no pain, no happiness, no anything except hatred and rage. I scared my wife, children and others who knew me. I am in the process of getting boarded out of the military, I am losing my home in Colorado, but, with the help of my family I am stabilizing. I know it will be a long road. But one thing that angers me more then anything is when someone who has never first hand experiences what we do even uses the word MONSTER in the same sentence as hero or soldier, it enrages me to a point where it affirms my thought that there isn't anyone except my brothers and sisters in arms can understand. There are thousands of soldiers who are suffering and won't and will never tell of what they are going through due to the stigma that we are monsters. The damage is done and someone better work very hard to make it right, just writing a brief blog comment on how you apologize doesn't cut it. As for this dedicated soldier of 13 years, I will never watch Dr Phil again, and am deeply embarrassed that that title was EVER released. I would expect more professionalism from a so called Dr. who has a vast audience. As a soldier who is currently being discharged for PTSD and other issues, I was shocked to see soldiers on the internet stating that the original name of the show was Hero’s to Monster’s. As a so called “Dr”, I feel that you should have known better then to allow even the slightest inclination that we were monsters. Yes, it has stirred up alot of emotions in the military world and we already feel ousted by a world that doesn’t understand. PTSD has been recorded as far back as the civil war. When I returned home it tore apart my family and it was our dirty secret. I didn’t want anyone to know. I felt no pain, no happiness, no anything except hatred and rage. I scared my wife, children and others who knew me. I am in the process of getting boarded out of the military, I am losing my home in Colorado, but, with the help of my family I am stabilizing. I know it will be a long road. But one thing that angers me more then anything is when someone who has never first hand experiences what we do even uses the word MONSTER in the same sentence as hero or soldier, it enrages me to a point where it affirms my thought that there isn’t anyone except my brothers and sisters in arms can understand. There are thousands of soldiers who are suffering and won’t and will never tell of what they are going through due to the stigma that we are monsters. The damage is done and someone better work very hard to make it right, just writing a brief blog comment on how you apologize doesn’t cut it. As for this dedicated soldier of 13 years, I will never watch Dr Phil again, and am deeply embarrassed that that title was EVER released. I would expect more professionalism from a so called Dr. who has a vast audience.

]]> By: Anita Jo Harrison http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-124178 Anita Jo Harrison Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:32:19 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-124178 I would like someone to address the pain and suffering of the families when these soldiers refuse help or even one who doesn't have PTSD destroys a family when he leaves them with nothing but to live on welfare. This happens more often than people realize. There are whole families attached to these soldiers and when they take off, they leave destruction in their wake. We then are left out in the cold with our support system taken away as we immediately are removed from the military family support system by the military and the other families, while the soldier continues on with life making all the money they are entitled carrying the "hero" status and not even paying child support. I spent 16 years as a military wife and my kids were Army brats. We were left in the dust with nothing but a foreclosing house and food stamps. Hero he is not. I would like someone to address the pain and suffering of the families when these soldiers refuse help or even one who doesn’t have PTSD destroys a family when he leaves them with nothing but to live on welfare.

This happens more often than people realize. There are whole families attached to these soldiers and when they take off, they leave destruction in their wake.

We then are left out in the cold with our support system taken away as we immediately are removed from the military family support system by the military and the other families, while the soldier continues on with life making all the money they are entitled carrying the “hero” status and not even paying child support.

I spent 16 years as a military wife and my kids were Army brats. We were left in the dust with nothing but a foreclosing house and food stamps.

Hero he is not.

]]> By: penny ackerson http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-123454 penny ackerson Tue, 18 Sep 2012 21:49:07 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-123454 people have seem to forgotten about the hundreds ofvietnam vets that are still suffering.their families that still face on an everyday basis the hell their loved ones went thru yrs. ago are still living it today.i speak for them.remember them also PLEASE! people have seem to forgotten about the hundreds ofvietnam vets that are still suffering.their families that still face on an everyday basis the hell their loved ones went thru yrs. ago are still living it today.i speak for them.remember them also PLEASE!

]]> By: Rhonda http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-121848 Rhonda Wed, 05 Sep 2012 05:05:41 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-121848 Dr Phil, My sons name is James Holmes but was KIA in Iraq May 8 2004 protecting this country. many people from his unit is very upset that the mad killer from Colorado is also James Holmes and is getting so much press release. I here your doing a show reguarding the killer from Colorado. At the end of that show Can you show a poster one of the soilders made reguarding this mad man! so people will quit confusing a hero with a killer.How can I get this to you. Will you please e-mail me back ASAP so I can forward this picture to you and your staff. Our military is accused to many times of being killers and baby killers "yes even in todays times people still believe such nonsence" we need to show not all military is bad and they do more than many people would do including myself its time to focus on our soldiers and what they do . And yes I am the mother of SPC James Holmes. Dr Phil,
My sons name is James Holmes but was KIA in Iraq May 8 2004 protecting this country. many people from his unit is very upset that the mad killer from Colorado is also James Holmes and is getting so much press release. I here your doing a show reguarding the killer from Colorado. At the end of that show Can you show a poster one of the soilders made reguarding this mad man! so people will quit confusing a hero with a killer.How can I get this to you. Will you please e-mail me back ASAP so I can forward this picture to you and your staff. Our military is accused to many times of being killers and baby killers “yes even in todays times people still believe such nonsence” we need to show not all military is bad and they do more than many people would do including myself its time to focus on our soldiers and what they do . And yes I am the mother of SPC James Holmes.

]]> By: Bret Erwin http://blog.drphil.com/2012/04/25/heroes-in-pain/comment-page-2/#comment-120374 Bret Erwin Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:17:30 +0000 http://blog.drphil.com/?p=3105#comment-120374 As somebody having been treated via VA Mental Health clinics starting over twenty years ago, I don't think this is the face of public health anybody in their right mind wants to learn too much about, but compared to the one psychiatrist who got paid by medicaid to insult me for twenty minutes the VA can at least outperform that. All of us carry heavy baggage from whatever number of events in our lives. Even rich kids hate themselves for not meeting daddy's expectations. Accepting how traumatic brain injury or having had my skull fractured & jaw broken by friendly fire in peacetime, or doping myself for half a lifetime makes me accountable & caused many years of homelessness. Our personalities evolve through trauma & we adapt the changes to our memory & executive functions...Or we die too much from the resentment we carry about who we aren't anymore. In my case a fine edge will always exist where medication either helps me or freaks me out even more than if I don't take any. For very stable personalities stimulants can help. Only one VA physician ever took the chance to prescribe those to me, and although they helped greatly the same things associated with bad medicine side effects from almost all medications caused me trouble. Great benefits are possible along side of terrible consequences. Just like winning or losing a war, maybe. As somebody having been treated via VA Mental Health clinics starting over twenty years ago, I don’t think this is the face of public health anybody in their right mind wants to learn too much about, but compared to the one psychiatrist who got paid by medicaid to insult me for twenty minutes the VA can at least outperform that. All of us carry heavy baggage from whatever number of events in our lives. Even rich kids hate themselves for not meeting daddy’s expectations. Accepting how traumatic brain injury or having had my skull fractured & jaw broken by friendly fire in peacetime, or doping myself for half a lifetime makes me accountable & caused many years of homelessness. Our personalities evolve through trauma & we adapt the changes to our memory & executive functions…Or we die too much from the resentment we carry about who we aren’t anymore. In my case a fine edge will always exist where medication either helps me or freaks me out even more than if I don’t take any. For very stable personalities stimulants can help. Only one VA physician ever took the chance to prescribe those to me, and although they helped greatly the same things associated with bad medicine side effects from almost all medications caused me trouble. Great benefits are possible along side of terrible consequences. Just like winning or losing a war, maybe.

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