What's blowing up right now -- on the Web -- in terms of searches, within combat trauma and PTSD: definitely this one. People, the VA included, are looking for resources on treating women combat veterans who are victims of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) (see our index to entries discussing that, linked here).
That means one of two things (prediction coming): either there's a scandal brewing, and about to hit the news, on this topic; or, the VA and others are fairly well bereft of resources and wondering how best to treat sufferers of this problem, who are apparently reaching the VA in greater numbers. (One possibility: news items like this that show studies recently have shown an unsurprising but nevertheless unfair disparity in care between men and women veterans.)
Unfortunately, this is another case where civilians have a better situation going for them than the troops do. In the civilian world, women can take their employers to court for providing a sexual harrassing or otherwise hostile work environment, and their victories in this arena put other employers on notice not to go and do likewise. Sadly, the troops have no such protection. It's completely a double whammy: combat trauma AND trauma from rape or other sexual crime. Women servicemembers who've been affected by it say that in their minds, predominantly, the military sexual trauma is even worse than the PTSD, though they often occur together.
It's clear we don't have a handle yet on treating PTSD; unfortunately, PTSD concerns even more people; and MST is probably further down the list of where resources are focused right now. But whether through growing public awareness, better reporting, or for whatever reason, if searches are any indication, the VA is in a quandary about how best to treat MST, and even who the experts / what the resources are. We wish them, and particularly those who have been injured and mistreated in this manner, all the best, and hope the situation resolves positively, and quickly, for our women veterans, who have been doubly injured.
