Easier Written than Done

As they fight to keep alive on the battleground, home is another battle zone for female veterans. After serving, many women get what is called post-traumatic stress disorder due to the violent actionsof war. Unfortunately, rather than being cared or when they return home, they are left completely deserted and alone. For a country that prides in their military strength, we sure don't act that way. It's incredibly heart wrenching when these women have gone through so much, and when they come back home they can't find a job, a place to stay, or proper care. The majority of the women who come back from the war to resume their lives, they are usually homeless. Needless to say, no matter how many times we write the word "equal" between the words "man" and "woman" it is clearly easier written than done. Women began serving since 1948, but it was only 40 years later when proper health services for women was established. So even after the 22 years women have received treatment, most of the veteran hospitals today haven't yet fully adapted or changed. It's one thing when a hospital doesn't have the right supplies to treat a female patient, but it's another when women purposefully avoid hospitals because of the lack of safety. It's at a point where some veteran hospitals don't have locks in the bathrooms and no precautions are taken when examining female patients, especially when the veteran hospitals are mostly male patients. Consequently, the female patients leave the hospitals even more broken or damaged than before. It's really difficult to see these women being lauded for their efforts and after everyone has turned their heads, they are left for themselves. Something must be done to treat these women right and we can start by changing the veteran hospitals. It isn't right when you don't feel safe in a hospital, you shouldn't feel safe in a war zone, but you should feel safe in a hospital. Fortunately, one veteran hospital has been changed to care for the female veterans. Already the effects for the female veterans have been surprising. That's one step in a long process, but we've got to keep going, changing the hospitals, and helping the women back onto their feet. Maybe one day it'll be done as easily as it can be written.

The Pain Within

“I know you think that you took it away, but it’s still there…I still feel empty.” “Founder’s Day.” Vampire Diaries. Kevin Williamson, Steven R. McQueen. CW. 13 May. 2010.

Hidden from cameras above and under the water is a pain within that vibrates through the Gulf States. Aside from the tears and concern for the wildlife and Mother Nature, families struggle and while some confront their situation others turn away from it. Due to the oil spill wrecking their businesses,

many families are left with no jobs and no money, left to fight for themselves. They are solely left with the burden of not knowing the immediate present. Once we recover from the spill, this effect might be the permanent mark that this spill leaves. As human beings we fear not knowing what lies in the future, that’s why we spend at least half of our lives preparing ourselves, so not knowing what will happen in the next minute, or even hour puts a kind of stress that is different than the stress that you get from your boss at work. Families, from children to parents, are trying to live as normally as possible, but the crisis catches up to each of them. Whenever they turn their heads one way, they see clips of the oil spill and it’s like watching their insides just crumble over and over again. They betted everything on their businesses and so everything that relied on this source is suddenly expendable. During the Exxon spill there was an increase in posttraumatic stress levels, and the same thing is happening again with the BP spill. In response, schools are organizing camps and programs to help the kids deal with the stress, and although there was relief in capping the spill, there is still much anger and anxiety that lies in society. Unfortunately our method of solving this problem reflects a similar attitude in our health care system. In countries like Japan and the UK, they provide universal health care because they find selection of certain people defies the meaning of a community. However, the same selective character seems to be evident within the Louisianan society. For the people who have lost their jobs, their only option is to work within BP as part of the clean up process, but most cannot even get that job because there are some captains who get all the work while others get nothing. “This isn’t fair, and it has to change,” says Acy Cooper, Vice president of Louisiana Shrimp Association, “ We’re a community.” Despite reassurances from BP regarding their financial situations, without extra help, the residents of Louisiana will continue to have a hard time without improvement. For example, along with the extreme difficulty to get a job, there are barely any mental- health resources for the people to look to when all else fails. Although it feels like hope has failed, this situation is everything, but stagnate. Psychologists and other experts are already sending help and assisting the people as soon as possible. However we can’t turn our backs on this one, we’re still at the beginning of the race. Maybe it’ll take this incident to change something and to learn something, and not just for this incident, but also for the future. Hopefully one day the pain within will only be a distant memory.