WASHINGTON, April 17, 2008
Nearly 1 In 5 Vets Reports Mental Problems
Study: 300,000 U.S. Troops Suffering From Depression, PTSD; 320,000 Have Brain Injuries
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Play CBS Video Video PTSD Ignored By Military Brass Soldiers diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder can cost the U.S. military millions each. So top brass are finding other ways to deal with the illness. Kimberly Dozier reports.
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Video Helping Troops Deal With PTSD Harry Smith talks with Dr. Glen Wurglitz, part of a team being deployed to Iraq to assist U.S. troops deal with mental health issues, including post-traumaic stress disorder.
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Video Notebook: PTSD A new study found that 1 in 5 U.S. troops suffer from depression or post traumatic stress disorder from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Randall Pinkston comments.
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Interactive Military 101 Basic training to learn all about America's fighting force.
Only about half of them have sought treatment, says the study released Thursday by the Rand Corp.
A recently completed survey showed 18.5 percent - or 300,000 people - said they have symptoms of depression or PTSD, the researchers said. Nineteen percent - or 320,000 - suffered head injuries ranging from mild concussions to penetrating head wounds.
"There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Terri Tanielian, the project's co-leader and a researcher at the nonprofit Rand.
"Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation," she said in a statement.
The 500-page study is the first large-scale, private assessment of its kind - including a survey of 1,965 service members across the country, from all branches of the armed forces and including those still in the military as well veterans who have left the services.
Its results appear consistent with a number of mental health reports from within the government, though the Defense Department has not released the number of people it has diagnosed or who are being treated for mental problems.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said this month that its records show about 120,000 who served in the two wars and are no longer in the military have been diagnosed with mental health problems. Of those, approximately 60,000 are suffering from PTSD, the VA said.
In December, CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reported that veterans' advocates say symptoms of PTSD - from substance-abuse to rage to suicidal depression - are misdiagnosed or blamed on the troops themselves.
Veterans Affairs is responsible for care of service members after they have left the service, while the Defense Department covers active duty and reservist needs.
The lack of numbers from the Pentagon was one motivation for the Rand study, Tanielian said in an interview.
Fast Fact
The most prominent and detailed military study on mental health on the war that is released regularly to the public is the Army's survey of soldiers at the battlefield. Officials said last month that it's most recent one, done last fall, found 18.2 percent of soldiers suffered a mental health problem such as depression, anxiety or acute stress in 2007 compared with 20.5 percent the previous year.Only 53 percent of service members with PTSD or depression sought help over the past year, according to the study.
Other studies have variously estimated that 10 percent to 20 percent had symptoms of mental health problems
The Rand survey done from August through January, put the percentage of PTSD and depression at 18.5 percent and then calculated about 300,000 were suffering those problems at that time because Pentagon data shows over 1.6 million military personnel have deployed to the conflicts since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001.
Col. Loree Sutton, who heads a new Pentagon center on brain injury, welcomed the Rand study, saying it will add to the work defense officials are doing. That includes improving and expanding training, research and mental health staff.
She said officials have been working to add thousands more mental health professionals to help the uniformed psychiatrists, psychologists and others struggling to meet the wartime demands of troops and their families. Across the services, officials are trying to hire over 1,000 additional staff, companies providing health care by contract to the Pentagon have added over 3,000 in the last year and the U.S. Public Health Service has provided some 200, she said. The veterans department also has added some 3,800 professionals in the last couple of years, officials there said.
Rand researchers also found:
They gave various reasons for not getting help, including that they worried about the side effects of medication; believe family and friends could help them with the problem, or that they feared seeking care might damage their careers.
Rates of PTSD and major depression were highest among women and reservists.
The report is titled "Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery." It was sponsored by a grant from the California Community Foundation and done by 25 researchers from Rand Health and the Rand National Security Research Division, which also has done does work under contracts with the Pentagon and other defense agencies as well as allied foreign governments and foundations.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 121 CommentsShould anyone really listen to Bush? What he says is to protect the American people has proven to further endanger our lives. What he says will protect and improve our economy has forced us into a recession, and possibly, a depression. What he contends furthers our influence in the world has isolated us and downgraded our reputation throughout the globe. Can anyone doubt that he has a serious judgement problem, both with his own judgement and with his ability to choose capable advisors. He continues to play Russian Roulette with America''s young soldiers.
Don''t worry vets. Bush is sending you a shiny new "support our troops" bumper sticker in the mail courtesy of the RNC. Thanks for voting Republican America!
Support the troops, and stop being human scum.
Well, gailcummings, it''s hard to have a rational exchange with an angry six year old.....go sit in the corner until you can apologize....something this administration also needs to do.
Instead my comment is one meant to remind you that there are others who need this help just as much, and for countless vets - it''s just too late! I''m talking about the vets of previous wars - ALL previous wars! This is NOT new! It''s just more known, more accepted, and the people are more informed than before. This is BY FAR not **new**.
Please allow me also remind you that one DOES NOT NEED TO SEE **COMBAT** to experience something that is traumatic enough to cause/trigger PTSD! EVERYONE who is active duty is effected by this war in some way. The home bases/ports support those in the battlefield - there is a very distinct ripple that we all felt (they all feel) when there is any conflict going on. YES - those in the battlefield will need preferential treatment - but PLEASE do not forget that this does effect EVERYONE. And it effects the way all bases/ports operate so that potential rises force wide (all FIVE branches)!
I AM extremely glad to see you bringing awareness, but do not forget those that came before us that led the way and made their own sacrifices for us, before us!
AND PLEASE do not feed the ignorance that one needs to have seen *combat* to have PTSD. That is a gross misconception, and one that usually goes untouched.
Why of course, you sheeple who sign up with the military have no clue what they are doing to you- you are JUST a number and a warm body to the Govt to use as it see fit and discard, all this LOYALTY to the military is totally misplaced.
Our vets fought invain they fought for the Central Bank not the people they have been fooled along with the american people to be a patriot and fight unknown to them for the corporations like JP Morgon sachs investment. Rockafellers, bilderbirgs,
warburg, Chase bank and many others. When you wake up to the real story then and only then will you see who our goverment panders to, The constitution does''nt exsist in there eyes cause if it did matter you would''nt be serving money, It would be serving you as it was meant to by the fore farthers. Wake up to Dr Paul and then you will know the sad truth.
FRESNO, Calif. %u2014 Forced to leave the combat zone after his two brothers died in the Iraq war, Army Spc. Jason Hubbard faced another battle once he returned home: The military cut off his family''s health care, stopped his G.I. educational subsidies and wanted him to repay his sign-up bonus.
Read the whole story here:
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/news/234736.php
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