| Elizabeth Edwards made wise choice to go home and Report: Growing mental health problems in military |
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Elizabeth Edwards died at her home after opting to stop all aggressive treatment for breast cancer that had spread to her bones and liver. The accolades for her hopeful, but realistic, fight against cancer are piling up, and they are well-deserved.But it's also worthwhile to take a minute to look at the choices she made once she learned the cancer could not be stopped and that death was inevitable.In the modern lexicon of cancer, treatment is battle, and acceptance of death a kind of defeat. The phrase that recurs in these situations is "do everything," which means, use every possible medical intervention, no matter how invasive, painful or degrading, to stave off a death that regardless will come. [Read the full article] Mental problems send more men in the U.S. military to the hospital than any other cause, according to a new Pentagon report.And they are the second highest reason for hospitalization of women military personnel, behind conditions related to pregnancy.The Defense Department's Medical Surveillance report from November examines "a large, widespread, and growing mental health problem among U.S. military members."The 31-page report says mental disorders are a problem for the entire U.S. population, but that sharp increases for active duty military reflect the psychological toll of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."Most notably in this regard, the rate of incident diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increased nearly six-fold from 2003 to 2008," the report says. [Read the full article] |








