The504Vet

The family of Kyle Cardenas has filed a notice of claim with the Gilbert Police Department after they say, police beat him and tasered him until his heart stopped.

According to the claim, Cardenas’ family called the VA Crisis hotline on Sept. 12, 2015, and asked for medical help for their son. Cardenas was suffering from PTSD-induced delusions, so his family specifically asked for no police and a crisis team instead.

However, according to the claim, rather than getting the crisis team, who is trained to handle these situations, they got untrained cops from the Gilbert Police department.

Cardenas, clearly in a state of delusion, and in need of medical help, could not comply with the multiple officers screaming at him, so the officers escalated to violence after Cardenas resisted. The claim states that officers used excessive force because Cardenas was unable to comply.

“The police charged into this bedroom as well and attempted to restrain Kyle again. During the melee, the officers Tased Kyle at least seven times, sprayed OC spray directly into Kyle’s face, struck Kyle multiple times with their batons, punched Kyle in the face with closed fists, kicked and kneed Kyle in the thighs and legs, and ordered one of the K-9 unit dogs to attack and bite Kyle.”

The multiple hits with the taser, clearly in violation of their use, stopped Cardenas’ heart, according to the claim. 

The Gilbert police have refused to comment on the case citing the ongoing administrative investigation.

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·  Allen, E., Carter, S., Markman, H., Loew, B., Rhodes, G., Stanley, S. 2011. “Relationships between Soldiers’ PTSD Symptoms and Spousal Communication during Deployment.” Journal of Traumatic Stress. 24(3). 352-355. Academic Search Premier. Web. 07 March 2012.

·  Cavella, S., Drescher, K., Laffaye, C., Rosen C. 2008. “Relationships Among PTSD Symptoms, Social Support, and Support Source in Veterans with Chronic PTSD.” Journal of Traumatic Stress. 21(4). 394-401. Academic Search Premier. Web. 03 March 2012.

·  Cowper, D., Hodgens, J., Hunt, C., Kressin, N., Murdoch, M., O’Brien, N. 2003. “Gender Differences in Service Connection for PTSD.” Medical Care. 41(8). 950-961. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 March 2012.

·  Madden, E., Maguen, S., Luxton, D.D., Skopp, A.N. 2012. “Gender Differences in Traumatic Experiences and Mental Health Active Duty Soldiers Redeployed from Iraq and Afghanistan.” Journal of Psychiatric Research. 46(3). 311-316. Academic Search Premier. Web. 02 April 2012.

·  Loo, M.C. 1994. “Race-Related PTSD: The Asian American Vietnam Veteran.” Journal of Traumatic Stress. 7(4). 637-657. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2012.

“Both depression and PTSD can be chronic and debilitating disorders that are associated with impairments in social, occupational, and physical functioning, as well as high health-care utilization”(Luxton et all, 1031-1032).

The number of women entering the army is constantly on the rise. It has been proven that women in general are at a higher risk of developing depression symptoms. Therefore, the authors of this article decided to conduct research looking at how combat exposure in post-deployment affects depression and PTSD symptoms for both genders, particularly women. It focuses on soldiers who were involved in Operations Eduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, due to the fact that there is an increased combat exposure in this certain area.

The predictions made by these researchers were that combat exposure would increase the onset of PTSD symptoms, particularly in women, in post-deployed soldiers. Out of the 516 female participants, 23 reported depressive symptoms prior to deployment, and for men it was 288 out of 6,427. The numbers increased for both genders following deployment. PTSD symptoms were higher to begin with for women.

The focus of this article is primarily on gender differences in combat exposure, military sexual trauma and how these associate with PTSD. There was a pre and post-screening, with the pre-screening done March 2006 and the post-screening done July 2009.

Gender is viewed as one of the controvercial issues when it comes to military and questions constantly arise on whether one side receives different treatment than the other. Adding PTSD to that helps even more because it shows not only whether there is sexual discrimination, but also whether there is discrimination based on a certain disorder.

According to this article, there are disparities in the military which contributes to the onset of PTSD. The main focus was to look at the veterans who were trying to get veteran disability from the Veteran Affairs. They included specific characteristics of each gender to see if those helped or hindered their receiving of disability benefits. They hypothesized that veterans with more severe cases were the ones that were approved to get the disability benefits first.

The service connection for PTSD was 71% for men and 51% for women. The severity of the PTSD in these veterans did not change the results, but men were thought to have more severe cases of PTSD. Veterans who reported having combat exposure and who were also sexually assaulted were the most prone to developing PTSD.

Men were 19% more likely than women to receive disability benefits. It was found that men were favored when it came to combat, which therefore allowed them to receive disability benefits.

Social support and stress brought upon these veterans can play a crucial role on how they handle their everyday situations. This article empasizes the different kinds of social support received by war veterans who were battling with PTSD. By examining these cases carefully, it provides an insight at who these veterans should be in contact with in order to release their tension, and people who have a higher risk of delivering more stress onto an already stressed individual. An interesting fact about this article is that it does not focus on the onset of PTSD, but rather the maintenance of this disorder.

It was reported that veteran peers provided the least amount of stressors, thus making them the stress relievers, while the married veterans reported their spouses to cause an equal amount of resources and stress.

Spousal communication is a crucial factor for every married couple. It is especially important for soldiers who are deployed and have to go for months and even years without seeing their loved one. It can be a great barrier for the marriage and just the distance alone can increase the risk of divorce and decrease marital satisfaction overall.

This article talks about spousal communication and trying to see whether or not it plays a role on the onset of PTSD symptoms. They conducted a study using 193 male participants that were married and deployed.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) is a chronic condition caused by witnessing or being involved in a horrifying trauma. It is an anxiety disorder developed when there is an occurance of threat of an individual’s life. It is more prevalent in soldiers due to the fact that they witness or are involved in many terrifying accidents on a daily basis.