On a July 6 visit to Fort Gordon, Sen. Johnny Isakson learned what Army doctors and other medical staff are doing to help Soldiers with traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder.

“What I saw today – there is no question what you are developing here is the template for treatment,” said Isakson (R-Ga.) who serves on the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. “It’s a program designed not to give you a pill and make you feel good, but it’s changing a person’s life and a commitment to a whole person.”

Isakson said he met with two Soldiers who have had diagnoses for TBI and PTSD and discussed their medical treatment. At Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center, mild TBI and PTSD are treated in a variety of ways

“Eisenhower is pioneering the treatment,” he said.

One of the Soldiers had been deployed to Iraq multiple times and had suffered several concussive events leading to his brain injury. The symptoms included headaches, depression and anxiety.

As in any ailment, a key with treatment is early detection and diagnosis, he said. . Because of longstanding stigmas associated with mental illness, people don’t always want to admit they are having problems and need help.

Isakson said the Soldiers reported they’d made progress under the doctors and hospital staff at Eisenhower.

Isakson said he was impressed with his visit.