Last September, Clint walked into my office. He was a handsome 21 year old with a quiet demeanor. He sat down and stared away from me at first, and then he began to cry. I waited, not knowing what was going on. Then he began to talk. He was in the process of rebuilding his life after having been in Iraq. He was a Marine, and he’d had two hitches there. He joined up at age 16, his ticket out of a sleepy little Southern town, where he wasn’t happy. Since his discharge, Clint hadn’t been able to hold a job, he had trouble concentrating, and wasn’t sleeping or eating very well. He reported some distressing, intrusive memories of dead bodies, and one particular explosion he’d survived while some of his buddies had died in pieces. He had tried to banish these thoughts, but it had been like trying to pull a small sweater closed over a huge chest wound. He was unsuccessful. Then he found himself getting very upset at certain television shows, traffic accidents, and at a group of people talking raucously after a bar fight. He had then tried to avoid people, and his relationship with his girlfriend had broken off painfully. He stopped regular contact with his mom and his brother, who lived back in Georgia. He had begun to drink in Iraq, and by the time he saw me, his alcohol use was out of control. He reported angry outbursts at practically nothing, and said that these scared him.

As he made himself comfortable in my office, he told me that my couch was up against two walls, so he knew no one could hurt him from behind, and he could clearly see the door and monitored who might be coming through it. He felt he had set up a good perimeter, and he told me he did this whenever he went outside of his own little cabin. Perimeters made him feel safe.

Clint was showing signs of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Since he began psychotherapy, he has been making slow and steady progress back to his old self. He will always have the memories of the dreadful experiences he went through in Iraq, but he won’t always be afraid of them or be controlled by them.

Veterans who are and will be returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in the next draw downs, will present the mountain communities with a special challenge. Their needs may overwhelm the existing systems and require a new paradigm for treatment.

Unlike metro Denver, there are few centers for services for veterans in the front range. If they need care from the Veterans Hospital, returning warriors must travel to downtown Denver or be approved to be seen in the Vet Clinic in Littleton, where there is already a long waiting list. The cost of gasoline is prohibitive for many veterans, and keeps them from going to the VA Hospital. Public transit is long and can be very frustrating for them. Some vets have Medicare and Social Security Disability, which may provide a modicum of help but are often inadequate to provide for all of a veteran’s needs. There are no psychology clinics in the mountains providing treatment for veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, which is one diagnosis that is expected to manifest with great frequency in the returning warriors with post-war adjustment difficulties. The same goes for soldiers returning with Traumatic Brain Injury. There are no specialty clinics in the mountains to care for them or their families.

The Salvation Army can also offer help with bills, and problems with sobriety. There are psychologists like me, who are willing to fill in some of the gaps and offer veterans second opinions and evaluations, helping them to secure more benefits from the VA or the Department of Social Security Disability. There is a new program called Operation Silver Spurs which debuted July 19 this year at Rocky Mountain Village, with the support of Easter Seals of Colorado. It offers veterans an opportunity to work with and ride horses as a method of dealing with their post-war adjustment problems. Mr. Brad Myers, a Marine, Conifer rancher, and a Rotary member, is spearheading that operation. His web site is www.loneeagleranch.com.

Another opportunity is coming from Freedom Service Dogs (www.freedomservicedogs.org). This is an organization that rescues dogs from shelters and trains them as service dogs to assist people with disabilities. These dogs assist with improving the quality of life, assuring independence and friendship, and providing safety and endurance to their owners. Freedom Service Dogs is beginning to train dogs for veterans afflicted with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. In addition, the Veterans Administration is trying to contract providers of psychological services in the Park, Otero, Alamosa and Montrose counties, which are currently grossly underserved.

We who live in the mountains must pull together to help provide for these wounded warriors who gave so much for us and now need our help.

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Dr. Brace is a Clinical Psychologist in Evergreen, Colorado. She can be reached at 303-679-1429. Information about her practice may be found at www.drsusanbrace.com.