Just who's malingering?

And that 'VA' are the People of this Country who continue to refuse to fund that agency, but have no problem with ever bloated defense budgets nor caring where that bloat goes, in their own Sacrifice for the Wars and Occupations they send others into!!

PTSD and the VA: Just who's malingering?

August 1, 2010 In 1944 when an uninjured private, Charles H. Kuhl, said he "couldn't take it anymore," Gen. George S. Patton called him a "yellow coward," slapped him, and threw him out of the hospital tent. The U.S. military has always had difficulty discriminating between members disabled by mental health issues like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and malingering.

Many in the Department of Veterans Affairs would have us believe that PTSD is unique to military personnel, but that is not true. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, even missionaries and relief workers in Haiti can suffer. So can many victims of rape, abuse or other violent crime. Anyone witnessing death or dismemberment is a potential candidate. The critical difference is whether they get the opportunity to talk about it and work through it. That's where the military culture becomes a barrier.

In the modern military mindset, only the lowest of the low would let his buddies down, fail to do the job or abandon the mission. As a result, it is often only after family lives are destroyed by night terrors, panic attacks, violent outbursts, emotional numbness and substance abuse that many combat veterans seek help. Today, the VA feels like an adversary to many veterans.

Until recently, to get help they had to prove they weren't malingering. They were required to document the very experiences that were ruining their lives, including getting statements from corroborating witnesses. Continued