VA doctor seeks alternative mental health care for younger vets

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(Host)The chief of mental health at Vermont’s Veterans Administration Medical Center is seeing mixed results in treating younger veterans for combat stress.

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz says many vets in their 20s and 30s seem uninterested in the type of treatments being offered. He says most involve recurring face-to face therapy.

(Pomerantz) "We’re finding that these are people who want to just kind of keep moving, they’re trying to hold down their jobs and their families and it’s an investment in time that they just don’t want to make. I think that the ideal kind of treatment would be something that somebody could access at two o’clock in the morning.”

(Host) Pomerantz says these new vets expect things to happen quickly. They’re used to MySpace and the Internet. Many even have videos of themselves in combat in Iraq.

The VA is trying to adapt by expanding office hours and concentrating more staff in satellite offices. Pomerantz says he’s looking into newer, higher-tech alternatives.

But he says the prospect of a new deployment also seems to be a deterrent for getting help with trauma symptoms.

(Pomerantz) “Now that they know they’re going back in a year and a half, there are many who are questioning, `Well if this stuff kept me alive when I was over there, I’m going to need it again.”’ 

(Host) Pomerantz says if anything, post traumatic stress symptoms interfere with being an effective soldier.

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