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Spike in PTSD Cases Among Returning Veterans
May 28, 2008

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News Summary

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases among veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars rose 46.4 percent in 2007, Reuters reported May 27.

The U.S. military reported 13,891 new PTSD cases in 2007, up from 9,549 in 2006. In the past five years, more than 38,000 PTSD cases have been documented among U.S. military personnel, mostly among the Army and Marines.

Longer, multiple tours of combat duty ordered by the Bush administration received blame for the trend, although experts also said that the military is doing a better job of identifying individuals with PTSD.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently ordered a policy change that allows soldiers to seek help for PTSD without jeopardizing their military careers.

A Rand Corp. study estimated that 18.5 percent of military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan showed signs of PTSD or depression.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:
(Comments now appear first to last)

Posted by Mike Levy on 29 May 08 12:08 PM EDT
Not surprising! And Senator McCain would deny Bill of Rights Educational benefits to those who only serve in our military for three years, fearing that giving our brave soldiers what was promised them in the first place would lead them to leave the military 'early'. Shame on him and the U.S. Government and we the people that have dug deep into the refuse pool to elect such insightful 'leadership'.

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