300,000 Troops suffer PTSD or Depression
Fri Apr 18, 2008 at 10:53:54 AM PDT
Per the AP, a study by the Rand Corporation, not a liberal bastion, is documenting the enormity of the mental health crisis that the Iraq War is bringing to our shores:
WASHINGTON - Roughly one in every five U.S. troops who have survived the bombs and other dangers of Iraq and Afghanistan now suffers from major depression or post-traumatic stress, an independent study said Thursday. It estimated the toll at 300,000 or more.
But that's just half the story. Not only are the head problems psychological--many are physical injuries as well:
As many or more report possible brain injuries from explosions or other head wounds, said the study, the first major survey from outside the government.
Per the AP, only half with mental health issues have SOUGHT help (not received all the help they need, only "sought"), and even fewer of those with head injuries.
The full story can be read at:
http://news.yahoo.com/...
The true impact of this war has yet to come home to roost. Speaking as a PTSD survivor of sexual assault, my treatment took quite a while, and I didn't have to recover from watching other people be killed or maimed, or killing or maiming them myself. I also have a brother who had closed-head injuries from a massive car accident and a brother-in-law who had a large brain tumor removed. They both went through periods of extreme rage fests for years after these experiences, and we were told that anger/rage outbursts are common with head injuries.
As a PTSD survivor I lashed out when situations that restimulated my fear occurred, often in completely inappropriate ways. I did some damage to my kids and a lot to my husband--and my trauma was nothing compared to what these folks have gone through. When I think of what the families of these soldiers face, dealing with depressed and perhaps rageful returnees, I am at a loss.
These men and women must receive the best our healthcare system has to offer in terms of support and treatment--and that goes for their families as well.
Vietnam Vets were treated as criminals by some among us, but at least the US as a whole was engaged in the war. It was on our TV sets. Now that I am in China and watching international news, I see the Iraq War footage every day. The bomb victims. Footage of wounded children. The rest of the world is watching this war, but back home in the US I didn't see footage like that.
When I think of hundreds of thousands maimed in this unseen way, while the MSM can't even be bothered to cover their struggle, I am at a loss. I long ago gave up hope that the MSM would care or focus for any legth of time on the Iraqis' suffering. But the lack of interest in our fellow Americans still surprises me.
I'm tired of Hillary Clinton, and I'm getting a little tired of Obama too. What makes me tired is the new focus on the economy, even as the killing and the dying continues, and the waste of the lives of another generation of young people. These soldiers are having their lives altered in degrees great and small. Losing your home to foreclosure is a shock, and hard on families. But losing your sanity and your intact brain--
It's the War, stupid.
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