By Dorothy Meindok
The Post Newspaper Veterans Consultant
Have you heard about LATR?
There is a podcast I just learned about that is produced by the VA Employee Education System (EES) and supported by the VA Office of Rural Health, with subject matter input from the VA New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, and the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD and well, those are some of the medical professionals at the Veterans Administration that saved my life as a young veteran who didn’t even know she WAS a “veteran” let alone had PTSD from wartime service and military sexual traumas. So, I was again moved by their work when I came upon the podcast and wanted to share their work with you too. This work is about some of the lesser known nuances of complex mental health challenges like PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) in general but especially when natural coping skills have helped repress or suppress or alleviate trauma avoidance but then suddenly age sets in.
Maybe this awareness will help practitioners better understand and better the outcomes for everyone that is dealing with Later-adulthood Trauma Re-engagement (LATR, pronounced “later”).
Taking the time to try and unravel the distinguishing factors matter in how the best respond medically and when haphazardly overlooked (also for a myriad of reasons ranging from personal ego to actual mistake) without regard, it transcends into the lives of our beloved caregivers both at home and at all the other VA clinics & offices the veteran seeks help & caregiving from. Most importantly, can you imagine being the suffering veteran, that human being and what they must be going through when this happens to them? It’s important stuff.
“While some of us may be familiar with PTSD as a result of combat, natural disasters or other traumatic events, many of us are less familiar with the ways PTSD can resurface, or emerge, for the first time as we age.
Older Veterans are sometimes reminded of traumas they avoided thinking about or that had not previously bothered them. This is called Later-adulthood Trauma Re-engagement (LATR, pronounced later). It can start when older Veterans have experiences common to aging, such as illness, hospitalizations, declining health, retirement or bereavement.”
For more please visit:
where you can listen, see and hear more directly from veterans and family members as well as find helpful resources.
I wish you all a safe and Blessed Easter holiday!
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Dorothy Meindok is The Post Newspaper’s Veterans Consultant. Ms. Meindok served her nation in the United States Navy and is currently a practicing lawyer advocating for our nation’s veterans. Her column appears on Sundays.
