One Humanitarian Crisis You Haven't Donated To

Support for the Afghanistan War has hit rock bottom. In a May Associated Press poll, an overwhelming 66 percent of Americans disapproved of the war, with only 27 percent giving our Afghanistan conflict a stamp of approval. But whether we like the war or not, the troops fighting on behalf of America need our support. Our veterans are facing an unprecedented crisis in the form of PTSD, and this humanitarian issue has nothing to do with politics.

As many as one-fifth of the 2.6 million veterans deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq since 2011 battle PTSD, an anxiety disorder characterized by painful flashbacks and nightmares triggered without notice. As the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs struggle to provide veterans with access to treatment services, many warriors and their families are left to suffer through the daily pain of PTSD alone.

Wars are often controversial, but we haven't seen this little public support for a conflict since the most protested years of the Vietnam War. And it seems that we've let our negative view of the war taint our view of the veterans fighting it just when they need our help.

When aid levels are low and need levels are high during a humanitarian crisis, Americans have a proven track record of generosity. Our donations flood in when our community nonprofits face critically low funding. We support communities during natural disasters whether they are domestic or international. When the devastating earthquake shook Haiti in 2010, American celebrities, politicians, community leaders and individuals from all sides of the political spectrum joined forces in an unprecedented aid campaign that raised $1.3 billion for the island nation. That humanitarian effort was all about the people; no matter our opinion of Haiti, we all gave what we had to help its communities thrive again.

Our community of veterans is facing its own humanitarian crisis: PTSD. With so many of our warriors struggling daily to overcome this debilitating condition, veterans need our support more than ever. It's time to put politics aside and build a veterans aid movement from the ground level up.

Want to help but not sure how? My organization Harvesting Happiness 4 Heroes is just one of many community-based nonprofits providing stigma-free treatment for Veterans and their families. Visit our website to learn more.

 

Comments

[Mark Elron]

09:37 AM on 11/21/2012

America's Ministry of Virtue and Vice (DEA) prefers to take its medical instruction from Cotton Mather, the intellectual Godfather of the Salem Witch Trials! Any discrediting of spectral evidence is a manifestation of guilt, and should be punished by pressing or trial by ordeal.

[landskroon]

03:51 PM on 10/01/2012

Government did not have any problem to pay 20$ to a gallon of petrol in Afghansistan and Iraq. There were problems with making Jeeps safe for roadsidebombs. No problem selling 15$ a meal per person for the soldiers. No money for a decent Hospital (rats and mice). Loads of money for hightec weaponry, even unwanted stuff. 150$ for cleaning uniforms, no problem. Why am I not surprised that all those boys and girls come back and.....................can run to hell. Job is done, profiteers are well off and that whats made them start the (pre 9/11 organized) war

[ttsgw]

04:42 AM on 09/30/2012

Donate to the military industry as their owners and executives will not make as much profit as they did when the brutal occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in most killings. The wealth of the corporations, especially the military and weapon industry is much more important for any real American or true Christian than the lives of themselves or their children and grand children. And much, much more important than the children starving to death in parts of Africa.

[ttsgw]

06:40 PM on 09/28/2012

As long as the wealth of the owners and executives of the military industry is much more important than American lives, nothing will change.

[Crisdean Wulver]

10:15 PM on 09/27/2012

A few years back the US government decided to give a researcher special permission to start a study program using MDMA (the pure pharmaceutical version of the drug that later became known on the streets as ecstasy) as a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Patients don't dose themselves, and their treatment involves psychotherapy. But the results have been promising.
http://mdmaptsd.org/
http://www.maps.org/conference/25/pre-conference_workshop_principles_of_psychedelic_therapy/