I am sorry that you have some many problems. It must seem that the world is unfair to you.
It is sad, but this is not the only case where service men and women are treated with disrespect. The poor treatment of our military started back in the 50s and was particularly bad in the late 60s to 70s for the Viet Nam returning veterans. They were spat on, rocks thrown at them, denied service, and that is only a small sampling of what they went through. Back in those days, PTSD was considered a myth, a way for "healthy" soldiers to escape fighting. Americans in general has tried to mend the wounds that were inflicted on those veterans, but have come up short. The example you gave shows just how much further we as a nation has to go.
Here are some interesting facts:
General PTSD Stats
70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. Thats 223.4 million people.
Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, thats 31.3 million people are struggling with PTSD.
An estimated 8% of Americans thats 24.4 million people have PTSD at any given time.
An estimated 1 out of 10 women develops PTSD; women are about twice as likely as men.
Among people who are victims of a severe traumatic experience 60 80% will develop PTSD.
Almost 50% of all outpatient mental health patients have PTSD.
Somewhat higher rates of this disorder have been found to occur in African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans compared to Caucasians in the United States.
Combat
Lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans 10 30%.
In the past year alone the number of diagnosed cases in the military jumped 50% and thats just diagnosed cases.
Studies estimate that 1 in every 5 military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has PTSD.
20% of the soldiers whove been deployed in the past 6 years have PTSD. Thats over 300,000.
17% of combat troops are women; 71% of female military personnel develop PTSD due to sexual assault within the ranks.
by the way, this is a direct link to the story you presented.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/restaurant-refuses-iraq-war-veteran-and-service-dog-195925395.html Miss Brandi wrote:
There are very few things that make my blood boil, but this is one of them.
yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/restaurant-refuses-iraq-war-veteran-and-service-dog-151321791.html
I am a victim of a lot of very horrible things, rape, incest, loss of my little brother to cancer, loss of my Mother.
I KNOW emotional trama intimately. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, among other things, that are none of your frigging business.
A veteran diagnosed with PTSD was not allowed to enter a restaurant with a trained service dog because the dog didn't 'look' like a normal service dog.
My father was a kennel Master in the Navy for 27 years. They trained all sorts of dogs for specific purposes. He had a beautiful Beagle named Katie that did drug searches of Submarines. High-end jewelry stores have trained chihuahuas to not only alert to a burgulary, but also to attack.
This restaurant owner turned this Veteran away because of his dog. These dogs go through extensive training to earn the title of service dog. These dogs can feel a panic attack coming and alert the Veteran. Otherwise, that Vet is clueless, until the panic attack actually hits, then they are lost. They see, hear, feel things that were only real on the battle field. The dogs alert them, calm them, and help them deal with a panic attack.
I don't have a trained dog, but I do have a rescue mutt. She, even without 'proper' training, lets me know when I am in trouble. She will actually lay on my legs to let me know something is wrong. I am a 'cutter'. I self-mutilate when I cannot cope. She is able to tell when I am about to lose it and she helps keep me in control. I'm not talking about scratches here, I'm talking about over 80 stitches m********n. She has literally saved my life on more than one occasion.
That restaurant owner needs to be taught what PTSD is really all about, he would never turn someone away again.
There are very few things that make my blood boil,... (
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