Bill Text: NY K00506 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 2019, as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month in the State of New York

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-06 - adopted [K00506 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-K00506-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 506

BY: M. of A. Simotas

        MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
        June   2019,   as   Post-Traumatic  Stress  Disorder
        Awareness Month in the State of New York

  WHEREAS, June  has  been  nationally  recognized  as  Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month since 2014; and

  WHEREAS,  PTSD  is  a  mental  health  disorder  that can develop in
response to experiencing or witnessing a dangerous  or  life-threatening
event; and

  WHEREAS,  PTSD  symptoms  can  be  acute  or  long-term  and include
hypervigilance,   panic   attacks,   intrusive   memories,   flashbacks,
nightmares,  insomnia,  avoidance,  numbing, dissociation, hopelessness,
and intense feelings of guilt and shame; and

  WHEREAS, According to the National Center  for  PTSD,  an  estimated
eight  million  people  experience  PTSD in a given year and 7-8% of the
population will develop the condition at some point in their lives; and

  WHEREAS, PTSD frequently affects members of the military along  with
victims  of  child  abuse,  intimate  partner  violence, and physical or
sexual assault; and

  WHEREAS, Rates of PTSD are more than twice as high for  women,  with
one  out  of every 10 American women expected to be diagnosed within her
lifetime; and

  WHEREAS, 94% of female rape victims experience symptoms of  PTSD  in
the  weeks  following  the  assault,  and  the lifetime prevalence among
survivors of sexual violence is estimated at 50%; and

  WHEREAS, Over 20% of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and
30% of those who served in Vietnam have suffered from PTSD, and symptoms
have been increasingly emerging in the nation's surviving World  War  II
veterans; and

  WHEREAS,  PTSD  commonly  develops  in  response  to military sexual
trauma, an issue affecting over one in four female veterans; and

  WHEREAS, LGBTQ youth and racial and ethnic minorities are at greater
risk of developing PTSD and face unique  barriers  to  recovery  due  to
chronic  social stress, discrimination, and lack of culturally competent
mental health resources; and

  WHEREAS, The National Institute of Health  reports  that  less  than
half  of  all  people with PTSD receive treatment over a 12-month period
and 42% of those undergoing treatment receive minimally  adequate  care;
and

  WHEREAS,  Without  effective treatment, the physical, cognitive, and
emotional effects of PTSD can have debilitating impacts on every  aspect

of  an  individual's  life,  leading  to  higher  rates  of  depression,
substance abuse, homelessness, and suicide; and

  WHEREAS,  Increasing  education  and  public awareness is crucial to
combatting stigma, expanding  access  to  care,  and  ensuring  all  New
Yorkers  struggling with PTSD can seek the help and support they need to
alleviate distressing symptoms, improve quality of life, and  heal  from
past traumas; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize  Governor  Andrew  M.  Cuomo  to  proclaim  June  2019,   as
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month in the State of New York;
and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor  of  the
State of New York.