And speaking of PTSD
In researching the aforementioned article, I came across a paper published in 2004 in the New England Journal of Medicine that analyzed rates of possible mental disorders for returning servicemembers. (I would hotlink except that the URL is about eight lines long, so go here, type in the search term "stigma" and the precise date of July 1, 2004. You'll get more than one response, but the one you're looking for will be obvious from the headline.)
Rates for major depression, generalized anxiety, or PTSD were significantly higher after duty in Iraq (15.6 to 17.1 percent) than in Afghanistan (11.2 percent). As a control, I guess, the researchers also assessed an Army unit before its deployment to Iraq; 9.3 percent met the criteria. Without spending a heck of a lot of time searching, I found one paper online suggesting that the incidence of PTSD in the general population is around 9 percent to start with and another paper that, citing a 1987 source, suggested the general incidence is about 1 percent overall and about 5 percent in a given year. Both sources predate 9/11, which might well have boosted the incidence at least temporarily.
I talked a little bit here about why there might be some PTSD in the general population of people who haven't been deployed to Iraq (or even served in the military). I suspect the severe and ongoing nature of what one experiences and witnesses in combat probably makes the effects on servicemembers who go through that experience more severe and longer-lasting, although I haven' t reviewed research literature. That's the impression of several veterans with whom I've talked.
But even assuming that the general incidence of PTSD in Americans is as high as 9 percent (could be; I'm skeptical), then service in Iraq appears to be doubling the rate right off the plane. Follow-up research will be required because PTSD often doesn't show up for months or years.
Is the country ready? Are its hospitals, outpatient clinics and mental-health facilities ready? Are we ready?
And if we're not, how do we get that way? If Abraham Lincoln is to be believed, we owe our returning servicemembers an answer.
Comments (3)
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PTSD is a serious matter. I don't believe that we as a country are ready for the harsh results that the war will do to the troops. I have an uncle that was in the war when he was younger and he deals with the flashbacks and images daily. He use to be talkative and now he is distant. He walks around town all day and looks homeless but he has a house. It will take a lot of hard work for use to prepare the resources for this troops to heal. If former troops are still have these same images from years past then I only see therapy helping for a little while for the new troops. They will have to attend therapy everyday for the rest of their lives for them to try and block the images that they have witnessed.
Posted on March 25, 2007 2:16 PM
Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to Care
TinyURL for the Abstract is
http://tinyurl.com/37l4kt
(and there's a link to the full text at the end of it)
Posted on April 2, 2007 10:50 PM
in The Nation, How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits
("...multiple cases in which soldiers wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed as having a personality disorder, then prevented from collecting benefits. The conditions of their discharge have infuriated many in the military community... [the military]'s doing so for one reason: to cheat them out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving billions in expenses.")
Posted on April 5, 2007 12:24 AM