Recurring memories haunt veterans

LIVING THROUGH IT: Mark Braden, far right, says that he kept reliving the damage he saw serving in the military. Also pictured from left: Sgt. David Flynn, Capt. Richard Claxton, Spc. Ray Redmond and Braden’s daughter, Bailey. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
LIVING THROUGH IT: Mark Braden, far right, says that he kept reliving the damage he saw serving in the military. Also pictured from left: Sgt. David Flynn, Capt. Richard Claxton, Spc. Ray Redmond and Braden’s daughter, Bailey. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

(Updated, Feb. 25, 10:38 a.m.)

Woonsocket native Mark Braden remembers being a 130-pound “string bean” in high school when he signed up with the Rhode Island National Guard. Now, at 41, he’s 6 feet tall, bulked up to 225 pounds and before retiring served a total of 22 years in the military.
He served with the 103rd Field Artillery Regiment of the Rhode Island National Guard, and in the military police at Fort Hood, Texas, when he was in the Army. In the Navy, he worked on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz readying optics on airplanes for bombing missions. Recorded views of each mission were examined for intelligence gathering.
“The recordings weren’t crystal clear, they were grainy, but you could see and realize that it was somebody’s mom, somebody’s son or father,” said Braden.
Braden spent a year as a media specialist in Baghdad with top secret clearance, covering military news, doing photography and escorting reporters.
“I kept seeing the collateral damage of what was going on,” said Braden, who also suffered through bombings in Baghdad.
Braden’s been well-trained to be physically and emotionally tough. But being tough wasn’t enough. Being human in horrific circumstances left him shaking and screaming in his sleep. A certain air temperature triggered war scenes. He couldn’t concentrate or hold a job. For years his friends, his boss and his wife told him he needed help, but he didn’t want to lose his top secret clearance or his career and he didn’t want to be considered weak or crazy.
“When did Post Traumatic Stress Disorder start? I don’t know. It started slowly and went on for so long. It’s like you have a hundred-pound weight on your back and you can’t get rid of it,” said Braden.
When he came back from his last deployment, Braden finally sought help at the Providence VA Medical Center. He’s been to counseling and received support services that helped him get stabilized in housing in Johnston with his wife, Becky, and 18-month-old daughter Bailey.
He’s been a student at the Community College of Rhode Island for two years, catching up on undergraduate courses and applying to four-year colleges.
“The number of veterans being treated for PTSD is going up every year,” said Jennifer Lambert, acting chief of the Providence VA Medical Center PTSD Clinic. In 2002, the Providence VA treated 1,041 veterans at the PTSD Clinic. By 2012, the number treated at the clinic rose to 1,600, said Lambert. Overall, 2,300 veterans are in the Providence system being treated for PTSD, some in other substance abuse or mental health programs. Some are treated for PTSD at affiliated programs, such as the Vet Center in Warwick and community programs in Middletown, as well New Bedford and Hyannis, Mass.
“We have some World War II veterans being treated for PTSD and a lot of the Vietnam veterans are now coming in for treatment,” said Lambert.
“We’re seeing a lot of veterans who were deployed with the Rhode Island National Guard in 2003 and 2004 coming for treatment for PTSD. Those units saw significant trauma in combat – they were in Fallujah,” said Lambert.
Recent veterans are sometimes diagnosed with PTSD at their six-month post-deployment reassessment. Many issues that people tend to view as PTSD are separate issues, such as sleep problems or depression.
“Probably the thing that differentiates PTSD is recurring memories of very specific events and the avoidance of these memories,” said Lambert. “Some memories come back during the day and some come back in dreams. The veterans are trying so hard to push these memories out their mind that it may impact their quality of life and make them irritable. It can result in substance abuse to make the thoughts go away.”
Treatment for PTSD is often difficult to begin because, “we’ve got to help them face the memories,” said Lambert. “But over time, it gets better.”
The Providence VA has had a significant increase in funding, staff and programs for PTSD treatment over the past five-to-10 years, said Lambert.
Rhode Island has sent a substantial number of National Guard personnel – about 2,000 – on more than 10,000 deployments since Sept. 11, said Erik Wallin, executive director of Operation Stand Down Rhode Island, a nonprofit that works to prevent veteran homelessness.
“PTSD is a significant reason veterans end up homeless,” said Wallin.
“One day you’re in Iraq, driving down the street, hitting an improvised explosive device,” he said. “Then, a short time later you arrive home and the band plays for you. Then you drive home and you’re in your living room in Cranston.” •

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