European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4.the stars and stripes in the Gulf experts to help expos heal mentally by Philip j. Hilts the new York times Washington a for the american troops who were prisoners of War in the persian Gulf simply coming Home to jubilant families will almost certainly not be enough to overcome their Wecks Long immersion in fear say military doctors who will treat their damaged psyches. Those 21 men and women returned to the United states on sunday flying into Andrews fab near Washington. From there they quickly fanned out to army Navy and air Force hospitals in the area for medical and psychiatric evaluation. The chief Job during the first week will be to begin a mental recovery process said col. Richard Fragala a psychiatrist who is chief of Medicine at Andrews Malcolm grow medical Center. Fragala oversees. The doctors who Are treating the former prisoners and is treating some of them himself.  the returning captives Iii be mentally walked through the stunning series of a Normal events that brought them to a state of disorientation from the time they were blown out of their cockpits crashed in their helicopters or seized during ground operations through the rough handling threats confinement and even beatings at the hands of the iraqis. A we Are not on a pathology Hunt he re a a Fragala said a we see this As reintegration. We Are doing basically a High priced corporate physical and psychiatric intervention to get people functioning again for the corporation just As  might do if they sent people to Mayo  describing the former prisoners ordeal he said a people have knocked them around beat them up and they Are thinking every minute they Are going to die. A Normal things Are happening to them faster than they can integrate  fundamentally the former prisoners will he suffering from a a disorder of arousal a Fragala said a they have been on full Alert for a Long Lime a he said. Quot they have been overexposed overstimulated. If Reading at Home is a 2, they be been operating at a. 10 for weeks. So when they Corrie Home they can jump from a 2 to a 5 or 6 with really minimal  the very moments of arrival Home can add to the problem. Going from solitary confinement in which at least one Pris one of the former prisoners of War capt. William f. Andrews of Syracuse n.y., salutes for the National Anthem at Andrews fab md., on sunday. His son is at right. Oner was held to ceremonies at an air Force base is like going from a sardine can to Broadway a with family and officials nearby and television cameras watching Fragala said. A we done to want to overstimulated them and become part of the  a As a result the ceremony at Andrews was kept to a minimum and each returning prisoner was taken directly to one of three hospitals depending on the prisoners service Malcolm grow for the air Force be tic sea naval medical Center for the Navy and the marines and Walter Reed army medical Center for the army. Each will be interviewed by military intelligence specialists there and each will get a full Days physical examination and psychiatric assessment. A we Are not intrusive in our approach a Fragala said. A what we do As a beginning is a psycho education. They have been through a lot. There Are the seeds of an emotional train wreck in their experiences. We know something about How to help  army col. Craig Lewellyn an expert on military Medicine said of the former prisoners return a there will be enormous Public pressure to quickly certify them As fit and do the humane thing by getting them Back into the bosom of the family. A but that May riot be the most humane or Wise thing in some cases a said Lewellyn who Heads the department of military Medicine at the armed forces medical school at Bethesda the uniformed services University of the health sciences. A any Assumption that decompression happens most readily in the family setting is generally erroneous. No one can communicate All their fears and feelings at Home if they feel they have to put an appropriate face on for the  he added a they May be enormously ambivalent about their experiences. They May not like the Way they reacted in Captivity they May be ashamed. There May be some unrelieved terror that they wont let themselves admit for a time. Coming Home does no to make it As treatment by  nor experts said will the Short duration of the Gulf War be a mitigating Factor. Indeed after the Vietnam War those prisoners who had been held the shortest time had the worst psychological problems said capt. Charles h. Bercier jr., commanding officer of the naval aerospace medical Institute in Pensacola Fla. A when a person is first captured Quot Bercier said a the goes through severe mental gyrations. He believes he fouled up by getting himself captured. He questions his  in this Early stage of Captivity the prisoner generally remains stunned and disoriented. In contrast Bercier said prisoners who have time to adjust to their situation May work out most of their problems. Psychiatrists working with the former prisoners will listen for the that caused the most stress. A we will talk through it share it a said or. John m. Plewes a psychiatrist in the office of the army surgeon general. A we want to validate their experiences Tell them a what you experienced is of. It is expected. If you were confused and angry of. If you have nightmares about it its  a being blindfolded and beaten is a very Good Way to make you forget How Safe the world can  experiences incur by Elizabeth me Iiren the los Angeles times desert storm troops and their families May be in for a letdown experts say. Or. Charles Figley editor of the journal of traumatic stress said the disenchantment will be a family related a and a associated with the transition of shifting from one set of worries and expectations to another set of  family members May Transfer their anxiety about whether a. Loved one would die in Battle to Quot a new set of problems As the result of the separation Quot Figley said. Roles that were assumed at Home before shipping out will have been  others Quot what happens As the result of haying someone filling i no. In his work w Ith Vietnam veterans Figley has found that children May have become More attached and closer to the Parent who was left behind. Or a they May have developed romantic fantasies about dad or mom in their absence that no one can live up  Karen Blaisure a doctoral candidate at Virginia technical University who spent three years with the Navy working on a reunion issues Quot warns of letdown from what she Calls the a Al had it worse than Vou did Quot syndrome a the same malady that Figley describes As a i had it  Blaisure said that a resentful spouse May complain a i was All by myself. I had to do everything Arou Lumiere. All you had to do was go Over there and risk your  that creates a a terrible downward spiral a Blaisure said. A what i suggest to couples is to realize that you both have different jobs and to show appreciation for what each of you did a if the returning spouse is critical of actions or dec Sions made by the partner at Home a i Tell them fart ners at Home to say something like a if you were at Home you might have made different decisions but you weren to and this is what i  ,. Families in this situation experience a both Relief around the Issue of not losing someone a and also a letdown that comes from releasing All that fear said d. Ray Bardill Dean of the school of social work at Florida state University. An army clinical social worker for 20 years Bardill cautions that a once you Are absent from your family More than one week the family begins to adjust without you. They set up their own Little system that  one May encounter what Bardill Calls Quot return  Marlin Phillipps has run a support group on Staten  september for about 100 families of people serv ing m the Middle fast. Phillipps challenges the idea that this War created a situation of Post traumatic stress rather lie said a this is prolonged stress Quot Emo experts say Tiki jul and physical exhaustion is among the dangers i such stress Phillipps said cautioning that extreme a Laguc can exacerbate existing problems and invite net issues to develop w Hen service people return. ,1.,out in feelings of isolation and Alier Atli la Fhi Lipps said. A there might be problems late on. There might be a lot of crying a not right Awa because people will feel so relieved to have their famil member Back at  e Kovi Quot director of the Joiner Center for the study of War and social consequences at the uni vet sity of Massachusetts Boston said War changes its Pat l5.1p.ants. Bowen who served in the army in Vietnam of 1 re to bring the troops Back and hav these huge parades and people Are going Back to lit the Way they knew it  but some soldiers Quot a e bringing something Back with them a he said refer ring to troubling memories of what they saw in combat. A everybody goes on. With. Their life and you re Lei trying to make sense of yours Quot Bowen said. Lony juries a clinical professor of marriage an family at Kansas state University echoed this concern e re going to it be very Happy and sit there and Chee when the people come Hoie. Its kind of like and Warhol 1> minutes of Fame. Then we end up with the problem of these people being ignored. All of a sue 1 f 011 1 have a whole school writing thai