Nov 6, 2009 5:48 pm US/Eastern
Health Alert: Veterans And Mental Health
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Joshua Dillinger has had three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was on the front lines as an army combat engineer.
"It's a pretty rough thing to deal with for a lot of people," said Joshua.
Now he's an outreach worker at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center where he helps other vets cope.
He says the constant deployments add an extra layer of stress for thousands in the military.
He's shocked about what happened at Fort Hood.
"It's pretty shocking regardless of the circumstances.
But yeah it could happen to anybody," said Joshua.
"Obviously severe tragedy soldiers are under a lot of stress," said Dr. David Oslin, a Psychiatrist at the VA.
The suspect at Fort Hood is also a psychiatrist.
"As a mental health professional you're dealing with people who have very serious and complicated issues.
Mental health disorders are incredibly disabling to people and that brings a lot of stress for the providers," said Dr. Oslin.
He says people with post traumatic stress disorder related to military service usually are not violent, but tend to be more self destructive.
Counseling is critical.
There are signs all over the VA that read, "it takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help.
It's part of a suicide prevention program."
"With this particular war and these deployments we're seeing a lot of mental health issues," said Dr. Oslin.
Joshua says he's doing better now, after 13 years of active duty he needed some intervention, "and it helped.
I did some counseling, talked to some people."
The VA has a variety of ways to help soldiers and vets deal with stress and other mental health issues.
RELATED LINKS:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Philadelphia VA Medical Center
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