PTSD and veterans: dog therapy vs.Seroquel and psychiatric medication based therapy

PTSD and veterans: dog therapy vs.Seroquel and psychiatric medication based therapy

Thursday, September 10, 2009-$300,000 for study of dog therapy for soldiers with PTSD

VIA KS City article now archived:

.."the Defense Department is financing a $300,000 study that will pair troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with dogs trained to sense when their masters are about to have a panic attack and give them a calming nudge or nuzzle.

These psychiatric service dogs have been assisting people with a variety of mental illnesses since the late 1990s. About 10,000 such dogs are now in use.

New but preliminary research suggests that the dogs may be particularly helpful for people with PTSD.

And that has the military interested.

“It’s a powerful intervention. We expect a very large effect,” said research psychologist Craig Love."

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The psychiatric model for care in the United States is based on medication intervention with powerful chemicals called psychiatric medications.

Antidepressants and antipsychotics both have black box warnings for various side effects including increased suicidal thinking, diabetes, and more.

Seroquel, is an antipsychotic being prescribed off-label for insomnia, and has been for over 4 years.The recent re-visiting by the news media of soldiers dying in their sleep while taking Paxil and Seroquel and other psychiatric medications, should be a red flag warning AGAIN, that this paradigm of care can be dangerous with deadly outcomes.

Trauma and PTSD is a serious issue veterans as well as many other people suffer from, and the drug based paradigm of care is one that needs to be reconsidered, in attempt to use the least intrusive way possible to treat the trauma.

There are many anecdotal stories of patients having violent nightmares while taking Seroquel.

One might consider the consequence of war veterans taking such a drug.

I again raise the question, why did the U.S. government allow a study of Seroquel by the Department of Veteran Affairs be sponsored by AstraZeneca, the makers of Seroquel, and why are the veterans being given an antipsychotic for insomnia? is there a conflict of interest there? $$$

It's time to invest more than $300,000 on dog therapy. Let's stop killing our veterans with a rx for psych meds, while we watch the drug company profits increase.

The Military working dogs suffer from PTSD too




Adding this story here says a lot about war and the aftermath of more than soldiers returning with PTSD

Man's best friend not immune to stigmas of war; overcomes PTSD:

From Air Force Surgeon General

"8/2/2010 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- When four-year-old Gina, a 21st Security Forces Squadron military working dog, returned from her five-month tour in Southwest Asia, she wasn't the same.

She was anti-social. Every sound, even the radio, bothered her. She was jumpy. And, she showed no interest in her work, which was to detect drugs and bombs.

Before she deployed, Gina had been a MWD for two years. She had trained at the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and was assigned to Peterson AFB, Colo. Other than the gun-fire training with her handler, Gina had never been exposed to the loud booms of improvised explosive devices.

While deployed, Gina was riding with her handler when an IED went off in the vehicle behind hers. It spooked her. The constant patrols, flash bangs, the sounds of kicking in doors and the IED booms got to her.

"When Gina came back from (SWA) she was so messed up, she didn't want to see anybody," said Master Sgt. Eric Haynes, the 21st SFS NCO in charge of the MWD section. "She wouldn't walk through front doors, she didn't want to go inside buildings. She was terrified of everything."

*image from Air Force Surgeon General article:

Master Sgt. Eric Haynes praises Gina, a four-year-old German shepherd, during her off-duty play time July 21, 2010, at the Peterson Air Force Base dog kennel in Colo. Sergeant Haynes spent the past six months working daily with Gina, who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after her tour in the Southwest Asia. Sergeant Haynes is the 21st Security Forces Squadron NCO in charge of the military working dog section. (U.S. Air Force photo/Monica Mendoza)