Thursday, September 29, 2011

Vice Cop's PTSD Diagnosis Leads to New Career as Youth Advocate

Insight Magazine has a great profile of Ralph Barrera, a member of the board at Fearless Nation PTSD Support:

Ralph Barrera was a sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department when a bullet changed his life.

Fired in the line of duty in accordance with his training and police department regulations, the bullet took the life of an offender—but it also took a toll on Barrera, who embarked on a decade-long battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and eventually confronted the reality that it was time for a career change.


Read the rest here: Vice Cop Turned Youth Advocate

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

War can give military working dogs PTSD

A USA Today article about military working dogs and their vital role in the current military conflicts also talks about how the trauma of war can give these canines PTSD:


"...incidents of canine post-traumatic stress disorder are on the rise, said Lt. Col. Richard A. Vargus, chief of the law enforcement branch at CENTCOM.

"Our biggest issue that we have with canines is canine PTSD," he said. "We've seen a significant issue with that because when you're standing 10 feet away from an explosion, the dog has emotions and the dog is affected as well."

If the dog is fearful, it may bite the handler, run and hide, or cower behind the handler if it thinks the team is preparing to go on patrol, Vargus said.


Read more:
Canine programs expand to save more troops