Study Projects Rate of PTSD Among Returning Iraq War Veterans at 35%
October 20th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Headline
The high stress and potentially traumatic conditions of war are well known by those who have experienced its difficulties, and sometimes the ability to overcome various images and experiences gained in wartime is a challenge to retain; many of those who have seen action develop symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Rates of PTSD among returning veterans deployed multiple times in the Iraq war have been noted as exceptionally high, but a new study performed at the Naval Postgraduate Institute and Stanford University suggests the rate will be higher than previously expected, at around 35% of those returning. The data may be useful for Veteran Affair and government offices as they prepare to help rehabilitate returning military personnel.
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6 comments so far
This shows how a war can never provide solutions to any problem. The government should consider the complete pull-out of our armed forces from unnecessary wars as soon as possible.
Just day-to-day events take a toll on our mental health and if we see an accident,most of us would remember that for many days, and have little problems. It is hard to imagine what the armed forces personnel go through in war-time. It must be extremely disturbing to see people die around you, and yourself live with a million threats around you every single day.
These are the people who put their lives on the line for the sake of our nation…for us. They deserve the best support available to overcome problems that they may encounter, and no money should be considered too big for such a purpose.
Wow! 35%? That is a very big number of soldiers who are having to deal with PTSD when they come home and the thing that worries me the most is that they will not get the care that they need for this disorder which can very much disrupt their everyday lives. I think that this is something that vet affairs has wanted to hide under the rug for too long and now they are faced with these kinds of numbers coming home and not only are they not going to know how to deal with this on a profesisonal level but I am worried that there may not be enough well trained staff to help the troops work through this. And I know that an even greater fear for families who will be affected are what will happen to them if the govt decides that it can’t afford to pay for treatment for them. Where will that leave these soldiers then?
This is very unfortunate and is definitely not going to encourage youngsters to pursue their dream of joining the armed forces. Immediate measures need to be undertaken to bring this under control.
There are still too many higher ups in the military telling our men and women to suck it up and not bring these things home with them. As we are beginning to see this is not as easy to do as it sounds like it would be. PTSD is a serious disorder that is affecting more and more of them every day and instead of telling soldiers to deal with it we need to be willing to give them ways in which they CAN deal with it, and not just deal with it to get by, but give them ways to understand what is going on and get through it unscathed.