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The Army has started to screen all soldiers, Army civilian employees and contractors for swine flu before they deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else in U.S. Central Command's region.

Photos New PTSD Clinic uses virtual reality Dr. Alan Maiers (left), the assistant chief of the Warrior Resiliancy Program at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, simulates a virtual reality city patrol Aug. 26 for Maj. Monty Baker, the Warrior Resiliancy Program director of research. The virtual reality program is designed to treat servicemembers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder after returning from combat operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Amber Bressler) Download HiRes Wilford Hall opens new PTSD Clinic Posted 9/17/2009 Email story Print story by Linda Frost 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs 9/17/2009 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Wilford Hall Medical Center has a new clinic to treat patients who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. The PTSD Clinic offers evidence-based treatments and a virtual reality program to help Airmen returning from combat operations. PTSD is an anxiety disorder which can occur after a person has been through a traumatic event, according to the National Center for PTSD. "We want to provide the highest quality care possible for patients experiencing PTSD," said Col. (Dr.) Gerald Talcott, 59th Medical Wing Mental Health Squadron commander. As part of the Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, the PTSD Clinic was created in response to the increasing number of service and family members with PTSD. It is timely in that it coincides with the establishment of the Air Force's new Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a pilot program initiated at eight Air Force bases. The Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, using a computer-simulated Virtual Iraq and Virtual Afghanistan, allows Airmen to interact and recreate a traumatic scene and recall sights, sounds, smells, thoughts and feelings. Still in its preliminary stages, the clinic staff started seeing patients Aug. 3, and is led by Dr. Kellie Crowe, staff psychologist. "We are very excited about providing evidence-based treat

With more and more veterans coming back from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson is trying to make sure they get the help they need. Thompson and Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., introduced legislation Thursday in the House that would require every soldier to have face-to-face mental health screening before being deployed on a combat mission, again upon their return and then every six months for the next two years. The bill is companion legislation to a measure introduced in the Senate by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

The Defense Department recently handed out contracts to three companies to design independent living systems for injured vets. They're supposed to help the wounded make the transition from hospitalization to home, and then provide long-term care. Two of the systems being developed, from Ingenium Care, LLC and Camris International, use a wireless network packed with touch screens, motion detectors and wearable, pre-programmed schedulers.

he Mental Health Self-Assessment Program® (MHSAP) offers service personnel and their families the opportunity to take anonymous, mental health and alcohol use self-assessments online, via the phone, and through special events held at installations. The self-assessments are a brief series of questions that, when linked together, help create a picture of how an individual is feeling.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report to evaluate the potential long-term consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The study readily identified the lack of literature on blast-related TBI and the long-term effects of TBI when blast injury is a contributing factor. The five recommendations are listed in the article.