ms. somers. >> thank you. i want to start by thanking the chairman and the committee for allowing me to be a guest. we are not members of the committee, but there is not any place we would rather be this morning. it takes a lot of courage to do what you are doing, and i want to say thank you for that. also to let you know, beyond the power of your stories, it is the education you provide that only you can provide. these are insights that only you have. it has been very valuable to us. while we are new here, we can tell you that from time to time you see testimony that will make a difference. that is what has happened today. you can feel confident those brothers and sisters will be heavily affected and helped by the time you put in and the effort you put in today. i also want to thank howard and jean somers for your leadership, for the time you put in on behalf of daniel, and the education you have given me. i look forward to continuing to

ms. somers, i would like for you to elaborate a little bit on the fact that you talked about daniel having problems with va staff being uncaring and insensitive and saying no one at the facility advocatiadvocatee- advocated for him. -- can you give us examples? >> absolutely. if i don't make it through this howard will finish. probably the most worst event was when daniel presented to their er -- >> it took daniel a lot to go to the va facility and some of the things that have been mentioned were in part of the fact that even along the highway in phoenix there were speed traps and when the lights flashed that would give him flash backs. even if he wasn't the one speeding. so it was difficult to drive down to the va. it is busy but he presented there in crisis. he presented to one of the departments, to the mental health department, he said he needed to be admitted to the hospital. this is something that we have been told my his wife who as jean mentioned as a bsn in nursing and his mother-in-law who was a opsychiatrist. he was told they had no beds in the mental health or emergency departm

ms. somers -- >> i would agree. daniel himself was a musician, so he was easy for him. he got a piano and a guitar, and that was his therapy, but i would totally agree with that. at the san diego v.a., i know they have pottery classes. which we were thrilled to hear about, and a guitar program. >> and when you talk about evidence-based, it's certainly not just medications. there are the psychological treatments that are out there, but they're only using two of them at this time when there are so many other potentials out there. the other thing we mentioned is the mdma, ecstasy, and lsd for pain. the mdma for ptsd and lsd for pain. because of our national phobia against these particular chemicals, we're making it very difficult to do trials with these potential, potential benefits. >> thank you very much. thank you to each of you. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you very much, members. we thank the witnesses for participating, whether or not you know it, you have been at that table for three hours. and we are very thankful that you have been willing to share your st

ms. somers -- >> i would agree. daniel himself was a musician, so he was easy for him. he got a piano and a guitar, and that was his therapy, but i would totally agree with that. at the san diego v.a., i know they have pottery classes. which we were thrilled to hear about, and a guitar program. >> and when you talk about evidence-based, it's certainly not just medications. there are the psychological treatments that are out there, but they're only using two of them at this time when there are so many other potentials out there. the other thing we mentioned is the mdma, ecstasy, and lsd for pain. the mdma for ptsd and lsd for pain. because of our national phobia against these particular chemicals, we're making it very difficult to do trials with these potential, potential benefits. >> thank you very much. thank you to each of you. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you very much, members. we thank the witnesses for participating, whether or not you know it, you have been at that table for three hours. and we are very thankful that you have been willing to share your st

ms. sulke so eloquently pointed out that this approach of caring for people with p.t.s. or chronic mental illness is extremely difficult. dr. somersnd i can go in the operating room and remove a tumor. that is easy. this is much more difficult to do. those signs and symptoms are very difficult to spot because, ms. sulke, you saw his son when he was actually, you thought, doing very well that week before he passed. i think as a doctor, that's been one of the things that troubled me all of my career was trying to figure out when you would have a patient that would take their life, say why did this happen and many times that week or two before, things seemed to be going well. you thought things were going better. i think dr. somers, you and your wife brought up something extremely important, that a good friend is probably as important as a good doctor, a good person to lean on. i think you have to do what the sergeant was talking about to have this very sophisticated team together for people in need. you also just need someone, it may not be a family member like you pointed out, a coach or pastor or whoever it could be in your life,

ms. somers -- >> i would agree. daniel himself was a musician, so he was easy for him. he got a piano and a guitar, and that was his therapy, but i would totally agree with that. at the san diego v.a., i know they have pottery classes. which we were thrilled to hear about, and a guitar program. >> and when you talk about evidence-based, it's certainly not just medications. there are the psychological treatments that are out there, but they're only using two of them at this time when there are so many other potentials out there. the other thing we mentioned is the mdma, ecstasy, and lsd for pain. the mdma for ptsd and lsd for pain. because of our national phobia against these particular chemicals, we're making it very difficult to do trials with these potential, potential benefits. >> thank you very much. thank you to each of you. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you very much, members. we thank the witnesses for participating, whether or not you know it, you have been at that table for three hours. and we are very thankful that you have been willing to share your st