Veterans: What's Wrong with Current Treatments?
AEI | AEI Press
February 18, 2011

  • Download

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 18, 2011

As the White House proposes a $7.2 billion allocation in its 2012 budget to fund research and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar and psychiatrist Sally Satel explains the number of problems with current PTSD treatments and proposes methods to optimize the use of PTSD funding.

Among Satel's key points:

  • A "culture of clinical diagnosis" allows mental health examiners to diagnose a veteran's level of disability before veterans have even begun rehab. This convinces the patient that future health is unattainable, and gives individual veterans dismal prospects for meaningful recovery even before a course of therapy.
  • Disability benefits themselves can sometimes cause inadvertent damage by incentivizing unemployment and dependency and discouraging veterans from returning to the civilian workforce.
  • Collaboration between the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) needs to improve. The VBA often aims to maximize veteran benefits while giving no attention to improving clinical treatment, while the VHA often focuses solely on treatment without properly assisting veterans with financial hardships.

Sally Satel can be reached at ssatel@aei.org (202.862.7154) or through her assistant at wistar.wilson@aei.org (202.862.4876). For all other media inquiries, please contact Hampton Foushee at hampton.foushee@aei.org (202.862.5806).

AEI's in-house ReadyCam TV studio--for live and taped interviews--can be booked through VideoLink at 617.340.4300.

  • Download
Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine

What's new on AEI

image A farm bill bait and switch
image Corker-Warner bill retains fatal flaw of GSE model
image Gas engine stands the test of time
image Women and the unequal pay myth
close

Join the AEI Media List

AEI's press office frequently sends press advisories highlighting the availability of scholars to discuss particular news topics, as well as recent AEI products (such as studies, articles, and testimonies). Please enter your contact information below to be added to our media list.
JOIN MEDIA LIST
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 17
    MON
  • 18
    TUE
  • 19
    WED
  • 20
    THU
  • 21
    FRI
Monday, June 17, 2013 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Brainwashed: The use and misuse of neuroscience

Join New York Times columnist David Brooks as he engages the authors of “Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience” Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld, in a discussion of popular neuroscience.

Event Registration is Closed
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
The next digital crossroads: Regulating competition in the Internet ecosystem

Please join us for a preview of the revised and updated edition of Jonathan Nuechterlein and Philip Weiser’s influential 2005 book “Digital Crossroads: Telecommunications Law and Policy in the Internet Age” (MIT Press).

Event Registration is Closed
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Economic liberty and human flourishing: Perspectives from political philosophy

At this event, three expert panelists will examine this relationship from the perspectives of influential philosophers such as Aristotle, Alexis de Tocqueville, and representatives of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Event Registration is Closed
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Neighborhood watch: A time to lead in the Americas

This event has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

Event has been Canceled
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Is college worth it?

At this event, Bennett and Wilezol will present their book, higher education finance experts Richard George and Richard Vedder will provide discussion, and a coffee reception and book signing will follow.

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Is Big Brother watching you?

Join General Michael Hayden (ret.), AEI’s Marc Thiessen, and other leading experts in national security for a panel discussion on the significance of the NSA leaks.

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Thursday, June 20, 2013 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Balance: The economics of great powers from ancient Rome to modern America

Please join us for an event celebrating the release of Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane’s “Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America” (Simon & Schuster, May 2013).

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Friday, June 21, 2013 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Washington's ongoing assault on free speech: An address by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

In light of the emerging Internal Revenue Service scandal, Senator McConnell will again join AEI to comment on the use of government power to stifle speech and will propose solutions that protect the individual rights that are guaranteed to all citizens of the United States.  

VIEW EVENT DETAILS
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.