The letter states, "A recent study conducted by the Rand Corporation found that 320,000 troops, or 19 percent of all service members, returning from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom may have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during deployment." The Senators expressed concern, "that at a time when TBI is recognized as the signature wound of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the most widely accepted and critical rehabilitative treatments for this injury, known as cognitive rehabilitation therapy, is excluded by the military's TRICARE health insurance program."
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART: Recognizing that best care for cognitive issues is available only from private providers, the group recommended that barriers to outside treatment be removed. Let’s hope they do!
There are Brain Injury Online, pages that are dedicated to helping military veterans find resources such as Veteran Service Centers, Polytrauma Centers, Fisher House Locations, as well as other non-military resources. We recently received a letter from the Walter Reed Fisher House in Washington, DC thanking us for informing them of another resource to share with the service member patients and their families.Politics or not, I’m glad to see some of our senators are taking an interest in brain injury. It is too important to continually ignore. I also hope our new President will recognize the importance of providing cognitive and other rehabilitation therapies for those in our military who need it. One thing that will require is making sure the right doctors are educated on all phases of brain injury. All brain injuries are tragic, not just those termed Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Damage is evident when there is a blow to the head resulting in physical damage, but it takes a trained eye to detect that the brain is injured when there is no such obvious sign. Evaluators need to be trained to recognize cognitive problems and other behaviors exhibited by a soldier who has been in areas of combat where their brain could have encountered blasts strong enough to shake their brain – much like the shaken baby syndrome. These conditions would probably be termed “mild” brain injury. However, the personal impact of these injuries is anything but mild.
I have such concern for those in the military who have suffered a brain injury termed “mild”. I have read articles stating that a lot of the soldiers who have symptoms of “mild” brain injury are not being treated properly for it. They are left in their positions to find a way to deal with the inevitable symptoms of memory loss, organizational, and emotional problems, to name a few. Just because you can’t see physical evidence of an injury does not mean it’s a “mental” problem. Having suffered an anoxic brain injury myself, 18 years ago this month, that might be termed as "mild" by some, I know from personal experience how dangerous it is both to the compat soldier himself and others around him/her.
Image the increase in danger for these soldiers, and the others depending on them. They struggle to carry out their orders as best they can while dealing with these types of untreated disabilities. When they return home, they, along with their families, are still faced with trying to live with the affects of such an injury. They need and deserve access to all the best rehabilitation stategies available.
Apparently these senators can see where the military needs additional help getting the best treatment for these soldiers. However, the injured soldiers must first be identified before the legislation will be of help to them personally.
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