Local Army psychiatrists talk about stresses of the job

(NEWSCHANNEL 3) – In dark irony, the suspected gunman in Thursday's shootings at Ford Hood had the job of helping people who were suffering from the effects of war.

Nadal Malki Hasan worked as a military psychiatrist for years in Washington. He was recently transferred to Fort Hood and was reportedly about to be deployed to Iraq.

Many are now questioning how a psychiatrist could do such a thing.

Newschannel 3 spoke to two doctors who work at the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek. We asked them about what they hear from veterans and how they cope with the stresses of their job.

Dr. William Bloem is the chief psychologist and Dr. Nazzareno Liegghio is the head of psychiatry at the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek. They haven't experienced combat, but they treat veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress.

"We're seeing an increasing number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan," said Dr. Bloem.

They hear about the realities of modern war.

"You've been geared and trained to kill, now you come back and you're supposed to sit down and rest," said Dr. Liegghio.

"It really takes a heavy toll on everyone involved, even peripherally," said Dr. Bloem.

The two doctors are in similar roles as Hasan, the Army psychiatrist investigators have identified as the shooter in Fort Hood.

"If you have 100 patients a day talking about the horrors of war, you tend to get a little burned out," said Dr. Liegghio.

Newschannel 3 asked the doctors how they cope and what their training is.

"We learn to separate our own emotional stuff from what the patient presents to us," said Dr. Bloem.

"If you immerse yourself, then you get blurred too," said Dr. Liegghio.

The doctors spoke about keeping boundaries with veterans and patients as well as consulting with their peers, but they say it's a balance, to help soldiers reintegrate, they must also be human.

"We try to empathize with them and not brush them off, like 'next,' you have to have that connection," said Dr. Liegghio.

The doctors say it is too early in the investigation at Fort Hood to say whether what happened there will lead to changes at the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek.