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Just reach out: Help available for returning veterans [The Edmond Sun, Okla.](Edmond Sun (OK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 18--EDITOR'S NOTE -- This is the fourth in a five-part series examining the state of mental health in Oklahoma. The previous installments have looked at available mental health care in Oklahoma, how mental health issues are handled by the police and in the public school system. Read the final installment in Tuesday's edition of The Edmond Sun. Some battles, like those waged in Afghanistan or Iraq, begin and end. Others, like those waged in the mysterious realm of the mortal mind, can last a lifetime. On Aug. 13, 2011, in Afghanistan, Oklahoma National Guard Staff Sgt. Eli Davis and his platoon returned to a valley they had engaged enemy forces a week earlier. They cleared structures from which they had been ambushed. As they were leaving, the enemy came in behind them and triggered an improvised explosive device. A half dozen men in Davis' platoon and an Afghan interpreter were wounded. It was one of nearly weekly IED incidents during Davis' deployment from the spring of 2011 to the spring of 2012. "We'd either find an IED, hit an IED, be ambushed or all of the above," Davis said. Davis, who comes from a long line of family members who served in the military, said watching fellow soldiers, buddies and friends under him be wounded, knowing their lives would be changed forever, was difficult. "War is not pretty. It's not glamorous. It's not Hollywood. It's not a beautiful thing. It's war. It is what it is," he said. "We made decisions and we killed a lot of bad guys. We did our job. And I think we did a lot of good things in the area. But the frustration of the good guys getting wounded constantly took its toll. It was a constant state of combat that we lived in for a year." Davis says he's concerned about the high number of suicide cases among veterans. Mike Brose, executive director of Mental Health Association Oklahoma, an independent advocacy group representing people impacted by mental illness and homelessness in communities across the state, has dedicated his life to the eradication of stigma and discrimination aimed at people. Brose said in the U.S. an average of 22 veterans commit suicide each day. 'MY FAMILY WAS ON THE LINE' Davis was part of the U.S.-led coalition's invasion of Iraq. He redeployed again to Iraq and then came the deployment to Afghanistan. Many civilians don't realize some deployments, including training, time in country and demobilization, can last up to two years, Davis said. After retiring, reintegrating back into civilian life was challenging. "When you start deploying so much, it just becomes a part of you," Davis said. "You almost don't know which way to turn." Earlier this year, Davis was medically retired. Back at work in the civilian world, colleagues expected him to be the same as he was before he left, said Davis, who manages a real estate office in Edmond. But he was not the same person he was before combat, Davis said. "It's not that we're worse people. It's not that we're bad people. It's just that we have different ways of looking at things," he said. Initially after coming back to Oklahoma, people gave him some space, Davis said. After a while, people noticed he had changed and he started to feel pressured. They began to ask questions: Why aren't you the same person? Why are you doing this differently? Why don't you like to go to a crowded restaurant? Why don't you want to go out and hang out? "You can't explain it to anybody," Davis said. "You just don't like to do certain things anymore. That's what post-traumatic stress does to a lot of people. It's a very long battle." At one point, Davis realized his family is the most important thing to him. His wife was pregnant with their daughter, now age 2, and their son was 18 months old when he deployed to Afghanistan. Davis said 8-9 months after coming home, he started having issues -- stressors, anxieties, irritability. "I realized if I didn't get help that I was pushing my family away," he said. "I was becoming a person that I wasn't happy with. I was having problems dealing with things. I didn't know why or how to deal with them. I knew that my family was on the line." 'I REACHED OUT' Davis, who was awarded the Bronze Star, contacted the military and got into the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a facility adjacent to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The center offers traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health treatments. Some of Davis' symptoms, caused by multiple blasts in Afghanistan, were TBI-related, some were PTSD-related. "I reached out," he said. "There's no pride involved with it. I had to get it figured out. I had to get help someplace else because obviously I'm not able to deal with it myself." Going through the 30-day program was a turning point for Davis. Professionals there helped him understand why he was experiencing symptoms. They gave him information about other resources. He went to a local counselor for a year. All the support from his family was also helpful, Davis said. He said he knows veterans who self-medicate, go to the bottle for relief. There's a network of foundations like Warriors for Freedom that exists to help veterans, Davis said. The Warriors for Freedom Foundation was established in 2011 by Maj. Ed Pulido (retired), Brett Dick and Sgt. Scott Momper to serve as a nonprofit leadership program educating veterans on public speaking and sharing their story. Outdoors for Warriors, the foundation's primary program, focuses on partnering disabled veterans with outdoor and sporting activities to promote the health, healing and reintegration into civilian life. It is designed to provide hunting, fishing, golf, cycling, bowling, rowing, motocross activities and miscellaneous sporting equipment to our nation's heroes to promote healing through remaining active and peer-to-peer support. Statistically, veterans who remain active and involved in their community and programs such as this have a lower rate of suicide and substance abuse. Pulido, of Edmond, said Davis is one of the veterans serving in the peer-to-peer program. "They are my heroes," Pulido said. "They are the backbone of our military -- the enlisted and the non-commissioned officer ... . They are my beacon of light. They are my inspiration. They are my motivation." Davis said the peer-to-peer program is not about sharing war stories. It's about getting with others who understand what you've experienced and are experiencing, talking about getting help, Davis said. For some active duty soldiers, the stigma of mental illness can get in the way of getting help, Davis said. "You just have to reach out to get it," he said. Fighting the stigma There is a stigma out there that makes it hard for some veterans to get the care they need, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Shane Faulkner said. Many veterans are too proud to admit they need help. But trying to cope with PTSD or other mental health issues can affect long-term mental and physical health, Faulkner said. "And there's a stigma on the public's part because of the unfair perception of the veteran with PTSD as an unstable, dangerous person," he said. "That can keep a veteran from getting the help they need because they don't want to be perceived that way." Faulkner said there are an estimated 350,000-360,000 veterans residing in Oklahoma. The ODVA is caring for about 140 Afghanistan and Iraq veterans in its seven centers, Faulkner said. In 2000, the agency opened the Sulphur Special Needs Unit, a secured 30-bed, long-term facility that is always full. The agency could double the number of beds and be able to fill them, Faulkner said. Personnel in all 77 counties are constantly working claims for veterans returning home during the past 10 years, Faulkner said. "If they feel the veteran may suffer from PTSD, they urge the veteran to get evaluated and get the process going of getting the help they need," he said. Faulkner urged veterans who are not in the same condition whether mentally or physically as they were before their service to file a claim to get them and their families the help they not only need but to which they are entitled. If you or someone you know is in the midst of a crisis, call 911. In Edmond, crisis intervention trained officers are available 24/7. You also can call 211, a local resource number. [email protected] -- 341-2121 ___ (c)2014 The Edmond Sun (Edmond, Okla.) Visit The Edmond Sun (Edmond, Okla.) at www.edmondsun.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |