From the Heart For Veterans and Those Who Love Them (revised)

Trump signed the ‘Forever GI Bill.’ Here are 11 things you should know.

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Here are 11 things you should know about the new GI Bill benefits. That requirement is going away. This portion of the law will apply to anyone who left the military after January 1, It will also apply to spouses who are receiving education benefits through the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship for family members of service members who have been killed in the line of duty since Sept.

Previously, Purple Heart recipients were beholden to the same time-in-service qualifications for the GI Bill as other service members. This meant that Purple Heart recipients without a service-connected disability who did not reach 36 months of service were only eligible for a percentage of the benefits and not the full amount. An estimated Purple Heart recipients each year over the next 10 years will be able to take advantage of the increased benefits. The Yellow Ribbon Program is a voluntary agreement between schools and the U.

Department of Veterans Affairs to split school costs not covered by the GI Bill, reducing or eliminating the amount students must pay themselves. The Forever GI Bill will expand eligibility for this program to surviving spouses or children of service members in August and active-duty service members in August Previously, only veterans eligible for GI Bill benefits at the percent level or their dependents using transferred benefits were eligible for Yellow Ribbon.

Some college degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields take longer than four years to complete, which is why the new law authorizes an additional school year of GI Bill funds on a first-come, first-serve basis. Only veterans or surviving family members of deceased service members are eligible for this scholarship — not dependents using transferred benefits. Vets hurt by school shutdowns will get benefits back. A provision in the new GI Bill that will restore benefits to victims of school closures has been a long-time coming for the staff at Student Veterans of America.

This provision will retroactively apply to GI Bill users whose schools have abruptly closed since January , for credits earned at the shuttered institutions that did not transfer to new schools. This will include the thousands of veteran students who were attending the national for-profit chains Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute when they closed in and , respectively.

The VA will measure eligibility for benefits differently. Starting August , this bill changes the way the VA uses time in service to calculate eligibility. Previously, service members with at least 90 days but less than six months of active-duty service would be eligible for up to 40 percent of the full GI Bill benefits. Under new regulations, the same days-to-six-month window is equal to 50 percent of benefits. Service members with at least six months and less than 18 months of service will be eligible for 60 percent of benefits.

Reservists can count more of their service toward eligibility. Starting next August, members of the National Guard and Reserve will be able to count time spent receiving medical care or recovering from injuries received while on active duty toward their GI Bill eligibility. The government will pay for the expansions represented in the Forever GI Bill through a 1 percent decrease in housing stipends over the next five years.

Veterans on the GI Bill currently receive a slightly higher housing allowance rate than active-duty E-5s with dependents. This change will take effect on Jan. In another study of rural veterans in VA care, patients who received treatment remotely had greater reductions in PTSD scores at six months and at one year than those who were offered on-site care. According to the researchers, participants in the telemedicine group were much more likely to engage in their own care, a critical component of recovery.

Research indicates that community-based mental health providers are not well prepared to take care of the special needs of military veterans and their families, including evidence- based treatment of PTSD and depression. Schnurr, there has not been sufficient dissemination and implementation of the most effective psychotherapies in community-based settings, such as primary care practices, behavioral health centers, substance-abuse treatment facilities, and hospital trauma centers.

The Center for Deployment Psychology, a nationwide network of medical centers, trains military and civilian behavioral health professionals to address the emotional and psychological needs of military personnel and their families through live presentations, online learning resources, ongoing consultation, and education. While many important advancements have been made over the past few decades in understanding and treating symptoms of PTSD, the rising number of American veterans who suffer from the disorder continues to be a serious national public health problem. Further understanding of the underlying physiological and neurological processes will be helpful in developing new and effective therapies to treat PTSD.

Research also suggests further opportunities for the VA and other health care systems to develop new and innovative ways to overcome barriers to treating veterans with PTSD. With veterans and their families increasingly seeking care outside of the VA system, community providers play a key role in helping to address these challenges. It is critical they receive the education, training, and tools to improve their understanding of and skills for addressing the needs of this unique population.

National Center for Biotechnology Information , U.

Journal List P T v. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Miriam Reisman is a freelance medical writer living near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Open in a separate window. PTSD in Combat Veterans The existence of war-induced psychological trauma likely goes back as far as warfare itself, with one of its first mentions by the Greek historian Herodotus. Risk Factors for PTSD in Veterans A number of factors have been shown to increase the risk of PTSD in the veteran population, including in some studies younger age at the time of the trauma, racial minority status, lower socioeconomic status, lower military rank, lower education, higher number of deployments, longer deployments, prior psychological problems, and lack of social support from family, friends, and community Table 1.

Intrusion—spontaneous memories of the traumatic event, recurrent dreams related to it, flashbacks, or other intense or prolonged psychological distress. Negative cognitions and mood—myriad feelings including a distorted sense of blame of self or others, persistent negative emotions e. Arousal—aggressive, reckless, or self-destructive behavior; sleep disturbances; hypervigilance or related problems. EMDR Once highly controversial, eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing EMDR has been gaining acceptance and is now recommended as an effective treatment for PTSD in both civilian and combat-related cases in a wide range of practice guidelines.

Pharmacotherapy of PTSD in Veterans Some patients do not respond adequately to nondrug treatment alone, may prefer medications, or may benefit from a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Alternative Pathways Antidepressants have been the central focus of pharmacotherapy research in PTSD, but better treatments are greatly needed.

Combined Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy Medications and psychotherapies are used both separately and in combination to treat the symptoms of PTSD, as well as related comorbid diagnoses. Treatment-Resistant PTSD For patients with PTSD who do not respond to initial drug treatment, it may be necessary to explore additional pharmacotherapy options to control their symptoms. Community-Based PTSD Care Research indicates that community-based mental health providers are not well prepared to take care of the special needs of military veterans and their families, including evidence- based treatment of PTSD and depression.

Challenges and Opportunities Ahead While many important advancements have been made over the past few decades in understanding and treating symptoms of PTSD, the rising number of American veterans who suffer from the disorder continues to be a serious national public health problem. Institute of Medicine Treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder in military and veteran populations final assessment. Report Brief June Accessed April 1, Accessed March 23, Understanding research on the epidemiology of trauma and PTSD.

Accessed March 15, American Public Health Association Removing barriers to mental health services for veterans. Accessed April 3, Tanielian T, Jaycox LH, editors.

Associated Data

Invisible Wounds of War: Textbook of Physical Diagnosis: Nothing new under the sun: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. A clinical study of a form of functional cardiac disorder and its consequences. Am J Med Sci.

From shell shock and war neurosis to posttraumatic stress disorder: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association; Accessed July 1, Unlocking the secrets of PTSD.

Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. Accessed April 5, Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. The co-occurrence of major depressive disorder among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder: Mental health problems, use of mental health services, and attrition from military service after returning from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Longitudinal assessment of mental health problems among active and reserve component soldiers returning from the Iraq war. Prevalence estimates of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder: Aust N Z J Psychiatry.

New York, New York: Substance use disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in VA healthcare, — Posttraumatic stress disorder and co-occurring substance use disorders: Clin Psychol Sci Prac. Hamblen JL, Kivlahan D. PTSD and substance use disorders in veterans.

Trump signed the ‘Forever GI Bill.’ Here are 11 things you should know.

Department of Veterans Affairs. Chronic pain and PTSD: Accessed April 11, A meta-analysis of risk factors for combat-related PTSD among military personnel and veterans. Accessed June 5, Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam-era women veterans: Sexual assault in women veterans: The Veterans Health Administration and military sexual trauma. Am J Public Health. How is PTSD measured?

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Accessed April 4, Accessed March 29, Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive processing therapy for sexual assault victims. J Consult Clin Psychol. Effectiveness of national implementation of prolonged exposure therapy in Veterans Affairs care. Effects of pharmacotherapy on combat-related PTSD, anxiety, and depression: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Pharmacologic alternatives to antidepressants in posttraumatic stress disorder. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder with venlafaxine extended release: Effexor XR venlafaxine HCl prescribing information. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; Aug, Accessed December 19, A placebo-controlled study of nefazodone for the treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: Comparison of nefazodone and sertraline for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Adjunctive risperidone treatment for antidepressant-resistant symptoms of chronic military service-related PTSD. A parallel group placebo controlled study of prazosin for trauma nightmares and sleep disturbance in combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. A double-blind randomized controlled trial to study the efficacy of topiramate in a civilian sample of PTSD. Andrus MR, Gilbert E. Treatment of civilian and combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder with topiramate.

A guide to guidelines for the treatment of PTSD and related conditions.

REFERENCES

Adding psychotherapy to antidepressant medication in depression and anxiety disorders: Health Services Research and Development. Accessed April 10, Pharmacotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. Pharmacotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: Accessed March 30, Risk of suicide among U. Physical and mental comorbidity, disability, and suicidal behavior associated with posttraumatic stress disorder in a large community sample.

Fontana A, Rosenheck R.

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