Post-traumatic stress disorder can be a life-threatening problem for veterans and active service members returning from combat.
Roughly 11-20% of veterans that served in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered from PTSD. That number is 12% for veterans of the Gulf War. Vietnam Veterans suffer at a rate of 15% and 30% of Vietnam veterans have suffered from it at some point in their lifetime. All of those statistics come from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.
Heidi Moore works at the Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center (VECTR) in Warner Robins.
The VECTR Center helps veterans transition to normal civilian life and that includes dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Something, she says, the military isn't the best at dealing with.
“I mean a lot of times they're told just to get over it, you're fine, you know don't worry about it just deal with it. They're just not taught how to deal with it,” Moore said.
That's why she spends her time helping veterans find the resources they need. For Moore, it's also a personal issue that she has had to deal with in her family. She is military spouse and her brother served as well.
“When I put my husband on a plane to go to Iraq, that man that came back was not the husband I put on there. We had to go through things and the same thing happened with my brother,” she explained in her office.
Moore says her brother is now doing very well and works with the VA in Massachusetts.
“But it’s a daily struggle. You know and he almost didn’t make it. He almost didn’t make it,” Moore said.
Veterans are welcome to come to the VECTR Center and ask for Moore, she is the resiliency officer. The Center does not currently offer appointments. After a consultation she connects them with the right resources.
One of those resources? The Vet Center in Macon.
Deborah Ross is the team leader at the Vet Center and a veteran herself. She’s also head counselor.
Ross explained that with the military's culture of sacrifice it's sometimes hard to get veterans and active service members to admit there is a problem.
“There's not really any internal mechanism from the military to say 'sustain yourself, get help, take care of yourself, you matter' that message was not there. The message was, 'do whatever you can to accomplish the mission and if you die that's understandable,” Ross said simply.
The advantage of the Vet Center is the records are kept separately from the VA.
“For service members that's a plus because there's a stigma even in the military of seeking care, and so we don't—we aren't in the chain of command to have to report to the commander or the first sergeant that someone's coming here for care,” Ross explained.
The Vet Center currently has about 110 active clients and sees roughly 3,500 a year. Ross says that veterans and active service members who deployed in combat zones or that suffered from military sexual trauma can come to the Vet Center anytime. There is no cost for their services.
The Vet Center in Macon and the VECTR center in Warner Robins are just a few places you can go to get the help you need. You can also go to the VA Hospital in Dublin or VA clinics here in Central Georgia.
The Macon Vet Center is located at 750 Riverside Drive, Macon, GA 31210.
There are also Vet Centers in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Lawrenceville, Marietta, and Savannah.
The VECTR Center is located at 1001 S. Armed Forces Boulevard, Warner Robins, GA 31088.
The Dublin VA Medical Center is located at 1826 Veterans Boulevard, Dublin, GA 31021.
The VA's website also has several search features to help find resources.
The VECTR Center also recommends the website ‘Give an Hour,’ which lets therapists and counselors donate appointment hours to veterans struggling with PTSD.
Comfort Farms in Milledgeville also helps veterans suffering from the disorder.
There are also private practice therapists and counselors that offer PTSD treatment throughout Central Georgia.