This was our third get together.
Department of Peace, NH Branch
Minutes
March 13, 2005
Farmington, NH

Present: Anne Melvin, Manny Krasner, Nate Krasner, Liz and Richard Knight, Tom and Sue Barker of Lakes Region Peace Response, Gerald Dickinson from Davis California, Alice Krasner, DG Krasner, Pat Frisella. Arriving late, Cicely Buckley.

After a brief discussion of the status of the DOP Legislation, including the September Conference, Anne Melvin, a clinical social worker with the VA in Manchester who works with PTSD veterans gave us a brief introduction to the disorder. We then viewed the short film that included a segment on Voices in Wartime, the upcoming movie, and a segment called Beyond Wartime which focused on PTSD and a few people who work to heal the wounds of war for both the military and civilian population.

We regrouped and responded to the video using a talking circle with a small handmade lamb as our talking object. Nearly everyone brought into the discussion some member of their family who had served in the military, or been lost to war and its effects, and the impact this had had on their family, whether or not there had been PTSD. A few had served in the military. Discussion also touched on the fact that other life traumas can result in PTSD, but that the severity of the trauma, its duration, and personality differences effect whether or how severely an individual will experience PTSD. Gerald mentioned the Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Project that returns vets to Vietnam to help with rebuilding and how therapeutic this seemed to be for the men. Questions were raised about how to recognize individuals suffering from PTSD and how to help them. Anne mentioned that alcohol and drug abuse, self medicating, is one indication that a person may be suffering and need intervention. There are triggers, such as anniversaries, or sights, sounds, even weather that can cause symptoms to flare. She mentioned the physiological changes that accompany PTSD, and that for some, the traumatic event is relived vividly as a recurring movie or bad dream. She also distributed several handouts. (Let me know if you want these and I will get them to you).

Anne began her work with children who had suffered abuse, and then began working with the State Prison system. There she discovered that one third of the prison population was Vietnam veterans, many serving life terms. Through her work with these men, she became committed to helping those damaged by war, taking a job at the VA in Manchester. She is the rape counselor there and sees both men and women who have been raped in the military. She said that men had a more difficult time because of the additional stigma, and were less likely to seek help.

We all decided we want to see Voices in Wartime. No call for action resulted from our meeting, other than to meet again. The next meeting will be Sunday, May 8, 2005. Please remember that we meet every odd month on the second Sunday.