The recent British film In Our Name is a returning-soldier dramafeaturing a married woman, Suzy, who leaves her husband and little girl to fight in Iraq. Because she’s involved in the killing of a little girl during her tour—this part is based on a true story, but it happened to a man—she returns home only to steadily fall apart under the stress of soul-destroying anxieties.

More:  https://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/23-4

VA spent $717 million on a drug deemed as effective as a placebo
By Bob Brewin 08/22/2011

This is the thirteenth story in an ongoing series.

Over the past decade, the Veterans Affairs Department spent $717 million for an anti-psychotic drug to treat post-traumatic stress disorder that a recent study shows is no more effective than a placebo.

Data provided by the department in response to a Nextgov query showed that VA doctors wrote more than 5 million prescriptions for risperidone from October 2000, the beginning of fiscal 2001, through June 2010. Risperidone is the generic name for Risperdal, a second-generation anti-psychotic drug originally developed by the Janssen Pharmaceuticals division of Johnson & Johnson to treat severe mental conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

But a paper by VA researchers published Aug. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, "treatment with risperidone compared with placebo did not reduce PTSD symptoms."

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110822_6423.php

After much work, Yarindin.com has become public.  A tremendous amount of work went into what you have seen so far, yet we're just at the beginning stage.  In Andean philosophy, there exists the idea of the Pakarina.  The Pakarina is that place, that moment, when water first comes out of a mountain spring.  It's the inception of an idea, that moment when an "ah ha" happens.  While small, tiny even, it heralds the possibility and the formation of a great river.  Even the mighty Amazon starts as a pakarina.  This is where the Yarindin project is today. 
Tomorrow we will be a creek, then a stream, then a river.

Many people have been asking how they can help make this dream, this pakarina, into a reality. Certainly, we wish to be inclusive for all who wish to help.  I envision screenings in theaters and homes throughout the world.  I envision groups gathering together for support and for growth who will discuss the important issues that face our world today; especially how we can, as a species, as a tribe, heal from the thousands of years of PTSD we have all lived with.  I envision groups of traumatized vets gathering together to help each other heal.  I envision healing centers throughout the world where this can happen, aided by the wisdom and beauty of our indigenous brothers and sisters.

But first, we need to make this movie, and to do so we need funding.  Our initial need is for $600,000 USD.  That will cover all of the production and travel costs. This is where you can help now.  More opportunities will be available in the near future. 

Results of an important study on treating veterans with PTSD with antipsychotic medicines shows, simply, that they don't work.

Patients with military-related, chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and symptoms that were not improved with use of an antidepressant medication did not experience a reduction in PTSD symptoms with use of the antipsychotic medication risperidone, according to a study in the August 3 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

Posttraumatic stress disorder is among the most common and disabling psychiatric disorders among military personnel serving in combat. Antidepressants are the predominant pharmacotherapy for PTSD, and within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 89 percent of veterans diagnosed with PTSD and treated with pharmacotherapy are prescribed serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs), according to background information in the article. "However, SRIs appear to be less effective in men than in women and less effective in chronic PTSD than in acute PTSD. Thus, it may not be surprising that an SRI study in veterans produced negative results. Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are commonly used medications for SRI-resistant PTSD symptoms, despite limited evidence supporting this practice," the authors write.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110802162319.htm