THIS is why we shouldn't be there..

[synnoveaevael]

This is why.

What is wrong with our system? That "they" care more for those killing us than for the ones doing the saving?

This shit sucks.

Comments

[vanillagenocide.livejournal.com]

i was able to just walk in to the VA and say, "hi i'm a veteran". i showed up with my dd214 and they processed my paperwork right there. took less thaqn 30 minutes and i was able to see a dr. they did it while i was waitng my turn for the dr to call me.

my only thought on why she is having a hard time... maybe she was not honorably discharged. i am not making a value judgement. not at all. but i know that if you are honorablly or generally discharged, you should be ok. but i know suicide attempts can sometimes *SOMETIMES* get you dishonorably discharged. if that is the case, she wouldn't be qualified for VA benefits.

i would have to know more about her case before i could make a formal judgment.

[vanillagenocide.livejournal.com]

suicide can also get you a lesser discharge called general under dishonorable conditions. it depends on many factors. but either of those while not get you benefits.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

seems like it'd just be better to have done the job right, and that sucks.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

i'm glad you didn't have any trouble.

and i don't know much more. but if she wasn't? what the hell? and even if she was, why was she depressed to begin with? it certainly doesn't seem to be something that just "popped" up.

[odogonefishin.livejournal.com]

My uncle has never had problems with the VA... and as vanillagenocide noted, you can get a less than honorable discharge with a suicide attempt... that would also help explain losing the job with the ambulance group, since firing her would otherwise be illegal...

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

see, that to me is an "effect". what was the CAUSE.

her husband noted that she wasn't "fun anymore". so chances are, she wasn't always depressed. what CAUSED that depression?

and THAT is what pisses me off.

[odogonefishin.livejournal.com]

here's the thing though... for the last 15-20 years, people have been joining the military (and/or reserve, guard, etc) not to serve their country under the understanding that there was the probability that they would in fact *gasp* go to war and see/do/experience horrible things, but rather for the "benefits" of money for education or as a "job"... that's not what the military is about and people who join it thinking that it is were deluding themselves from the beginning. My father spent 20 years in the navy, seeing front line action in vietnam and retiring just before (by a matter of months) the start of the first gulf war... I knew I couldn't handle that (among other things) so I turned down a vice presidential nomination to Annapolis

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

well. what if you go out there, and think you can handle it?

and you get shit on and shit on and you can't handle it?

is that YOUR fault for thinking you could do good?

[odogonefishin.livejournal.com]

most of the people who can't hack it aren't the people who joined to actually serve their country. The military is partly to blame for that in that they have been pushing the whole "money for college" thing for a while (this program was originally instituted to give disabled veterans something to fall back on once they got out, not to drive people in). I dunno, her story seemed way too one-sided - there's almost certainly something more there.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

i'm sure there is more to the story too, but i'm more afraid that someone is ignoring her because she "asked for it" so to speak, ya know?

[odogonefishin.livejournal.com]

I would doubt it. The VA is above all else a beauacracy full of people who don't give a shit, in either direction... they're there to stamp a piece of paper, same as the rest... if she's having as much trouble as is being claimed, there's more to the story, but it isn't likely that she's being singled out...

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

i didn't really think she'd be singled out either, ya know? just kinda like "oh, you wanted to die? another one of those.." situations.

[wanderingdream.livejournal.com]

just re-posted. This is fucking ridiculous. Did you hear about how Michael Moore took first responders from 9-11 down to Cuba and places to prove that even communist or whatever countries have better health care than America? Its so disgusting.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

really? i don't pay much attention to him.

my ex's father is cuban, and back in the day, he got thrown from his motorcycle.

the doctor who fixed his leg basically took tendons and tied them together. other wise he'd never have walked again.

a doctor here in america saw what the cuban doctor had done and basically said if that doctor were in america, with the proper tools, he'd be making MILLIONS a year with his skill.

tis crazy.

[grigoricennui.livejournal.com]

That's not fair. They don't care more about the prisoners. Government can always be counted on to be a beaurocracy. Beaurocracies are frustrating, but if she deserves benefits, they'll eventually come through.

I get the feeling there's more to this story than was told. Trauma issues aside, I'm left feeling very suspicious of her character. Shell Shock is pretty well recognized now a-days. It shouldn't be that hard to get a shrink and some meds.

Whether we should or shouldn't be there I'm going to leave alone right now. :)

J.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

mmhmm.

i just think there should be treatment for someone like that.

she took care of prisoners and she gets treated like she deserves no care.

bugs me.

[redaryl.livejournal.com]

Depression seems to be treated as weakness by the armed services and not treated like a real problem. Here's another story about someone who was IN military care, committed suicide and no one noticed for two days.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/WoodruffReports/story?id=3067983&page=1

The problem is that when you are depressed and/or have PTSD it is so very hard to ask for help. How can you ask for help from someone who tells you you are weak for asking?

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

i think that's awful too. if you are finally going to someone for help, you should at least be heard.

[redaryl.livejournal.com]

I think that's the real issue in that story. Most of the time if you have an injury to your leg or you're missing and extremity they will help you. But if you have an injury of the spirit/mind it's not visible and not taken seriously.

I also think it's completely ridiculous that you get a dishonorable discharge for trying to commit suicide when superiors actively ignore warning signs. Which then screws you for getting benefits.

The whole system is fucked. And I don't just mean the VA system.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

i hear ya.

i wish i could hear the OTHER side of the story. the story of WHY it's okay to ignore this, or why she wasn't listened to.

i'm really into the WHY of things.

[redaryl.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, me too. If this person were related to me you better believe I would be bugging the living hell out of the clerks in that office.

Then again, in normal hospitals people are treated the same way. Unless you have someone that's willing to be a complete bastard to get you what you need, it's highly likely you won't be getting the attention you deserve.

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

one of the issues we've had with normal doctors with my grandfather is that NO ONE is listening to my aunt or mother.

like, for YEARS my aunt and mother have been saying that my grandfather has a certain level of anxiety and whatnot.

you know who the same fucking doctors FINALLY listened to? my aunt's husband.

they were convinced that my grandfather's daughters were just "tired" of hearing him complain.

uh, NO??? why would he be taken to the hospital all the time if no one was taking his concerns to heart.

it always depends on who you get to listen to you, in whatever situation.

fucking sucks.

[redaryl.livejournal.com]

Oh man.. I hope that's not a "females are crazy and complain all the time" thing. That would piss me off even more. :/

I hate when people don't listen to me... but will completely agree with the same exact thing coming from a male. And men wonder why we get so irate. ;)

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

yep. it is actually. the doctor thought my mom & aunt were overly emotional. HI!! it's their DAD. duh.

hehehe ;)

[redaryl.livejournal.com]

This is also why I like female Drs :)

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

yar. mine listens to me.

my male doctors never did. but they were old too. so it could be the male or old thing. or both. or something.

[the2wittybird.livejournal.com]

sucks to say, but i strongly believe it WAS because you were female...

NOT right, and yea it's part of the reason i also prefer a female doctor. But there i digest.

almost seems that if you want serious care, you need to bring the ol' male relative with ya...which ain't right...

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

yeeeep.

[kindredchord.livejournal.com]

OMG. That poor woman.

: (

[synnoveaevael.livejournal.com]

totally.