Helping veterans cope with PTSD

At the time, the symptoms that Friedman later helped identify as PTSD were lumped into one non-clinical term—Post-Vietnam Syndrome—and there was little understanding of what these veterans were actually experiencing, or why many of them turned to drinking and drug use, and were unable to hold jobs.

In 1979, Friedman helped found the nation’s first community-based Vet Center in Vermont for Vietnam Veterans with readjustment problems, while also leading and encouraging new research to more fully understand traumatic stress disorders.

(Sam Kittner/Kittner.com) - Matthew Friedman, executive director for the National Center for PTSD at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Who is Matthew Friedman?

POSITION: Executive Director, National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology & Toxicology, Dartmouth Medical School

RESIDENCE: Woodstock, Vt.

AGE: 71

EDUCATION: Dartmouth College, B.A.; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, PhD in pharmacology; University of Kentucky, M.D.; Rotating Internship, University of Kentucky Medical Center; Psychiatric Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital; Psychiatric Residency, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Awards: Finalist, Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal; the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) Public Advocacy Award and the ISTSS Lifetime Achievement Award

HOBBIES: Running, hiking, snow-shoeing, skiing, kayaking, gardening and reading

Five years later, Congress appointed Friedman to chair a special panel that conducted an unprecedented survey of 450,000 veterans’ outpatient mental health visits. The study identified enormous differences in the way that hospitals treated veterans, and uncovered a bias against diagnosing and treating mental health disorders. His recommendations led to 172 hospitals implementing special clinical programs for PTSD.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina four years later, Friedman and others provided a “psychological first aid’ manual to authorities so they could help the victims of these tragedies. He has worked with the Justice Department to help victims of violence; the Department of Transportation to assist families who have lost loved ones in plane crashes; the Pentagon to plan guidance for current service members; and provided assistance to counterparts around the world.

At age 71, Friedman shows no signs of slowing down. He still heads the national center where greater emphasis now is being placed on prevention of PTSD. He also serves as a professor at Dartmouth Medical School, treats patients, and frequently publishes articles and books.

“There is something so compelling and worthwhile and so important about trying to help people whose lives have been changed by their willingness to make a sacrifice,” said Friedman of his primary work with veterans. “Some have suffered greatly because of this willingness and are no longer the same person that they were. I just wanted to help them pick up the pieces.”

This article was jointly prepared by the Partnership for Public Service, a group seeking to enhance the performance of the federal government, and washingtonpost.com. Go to www.servicetoamericamedals.org/nominate to nominate a federal employee for a Service to America Medal and http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fed-player to read about other federal workers who are making a difference.