40% Military Spouses See Mental Health Harm

Wars Harming Mental Health
Of Soldiers, Spouses
Problems Present
Long, Hidden Toll;
Help Often Avoided
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
April 30, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused heightened stress, depression and sleeplessness among some military personnel and their families, a new report says.


The survey by the American Psychiatric Association, set to be released Wednesday, found that 32% of military members believe their tours in the two war zones had "at least some negative impact" on their mental well-being. Among military spouses, 40% believed their mental health was hurt by their husband's or wife's service overseas.

Many members of the military community remain reluctant to request counseling, the report found. Almost 75% of the military personnel felt that seeking help would harm their careers, while 66% of the military spouses worried that looking for assistance for their own issues would harm their loved ones' chances of promotion.

"The old beliefs remain in place in the military, and there's a real fear that admitting to mental illness will mean being stigmatized," said Dr. Carolyn Robinowitz, president of the American Psychiatric Association. "The risk is that mental-health issues can go untreated, which has the potential to really hit families hard."

This is the first time the APA has commissioned such a survey, making it hard to judge changes over time in the mental health of military personnel. The survey of 183 military members and 164 spouses was conducted online by Harris Interactive. The report didn't give a margin of error.

The report adds to concerns that mental-health problems will be a long-term and largely hidden cost of current conflicts.

Because of advances in medicine, many military personnel are surviving physical injuries that would have been fatal a few years earlier. But the grinding nature of the counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, where there are no clear front lines and where civilian casualties are common, means that more veterans might suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression than in conflicts such as World War II.


"The young men and young women today spend 365 days on the front lines, and I think that has the possibility of a serious toll on someone," Rep. Ike Skelton (D., Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters Tuesday.
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One of the greatest strengths there is to help veterans seek help for combat stress or PTSD is the family. They are on the front line of the battle for peace, yet too many don't know it or even come close to understanding the vital role they play. Soldiers are trained to do their jobs but the spouse is expected to just stay home and wait instead of being trained to take on the war they bring home within their minds. Even today, thirty years after this wound was called Post Traumatic Stress, far too many are not aware of any part of this wound. While they may know something is wrong, the majority of the spouse population come under the false hope that their spouse will "get over it" and go back to the way they were. This false hope is too often deadly.

As time is lost waiting for them to return to "normal" PTSD claims more territory within the mind of the soldier. More time is lost as the spouse struggles to figure out what they themselves did wrong and eventually without intervention, marriages fall apart. Depression increases and hope of healing or "getting over it" evaporates. All of this needlessly because as soon as they seek help for PTSD it stops getting worse. Yet when you ask a spouse if they love their husband or wife enough to save their lives, they would say they would do anything. So where is the disconnect?

When it comes to PTSD they simply assume their spouse just doesn't love them enough anymore. They assume their soldier spouse is acting like all other people do when they no longer want to be married and the impression of the rate of divorce clouds their view of the man or woman they fell in love with. While the affects of PTSD create havoc in the home, they cannot see the wound that has created all of it.

Combat veterans cannot be viewed as normal people. There is nothing normal about combat. There is nothing that goes on that is part of normal life. When you think about the fact there are over 300 million people in this country yet only about 24 million veterans with less serving in combat zones.

Veterans Day 2007: Nov. 11

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day has evolved into also honoring living military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

23.7 million
The number of military veterans in the United States in 2006.
(Source: Table 505 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

Female Veterans

1.7 million
The number of female veterans in 2006.
(Source: Table 505 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

16%
Percentage of Gulf War veterans in 2006 who were women.
(Source: Table 506 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

Race and Hispanic Origin

2.4 million
The number of black veterans in 2006. Additionally, 1.1 million veterans are Hispanic; 292,000 are Asian; 169,000 are American Indian or Alaska Native; and 28,000 are Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. (The numbers for blacks, Asians, American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders cover only those reporting a single race.) (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)

When They Served

9.2 million
The number of veterans 65 and older in 2006. At the other end of the age spectrum, 1.9 million were younger than 35.
(Source: Table 506 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

8 million
Number of Vietnam-era veterans in 2006. Thirty-three percent of all living veterans served during this time (1964-1975). In addition, 4.6 million served during the Gulf War (representing service from Aug. 2, 1990, to present); 3.2 million in World War II (1941-1945); 3.1 million in the Korean War (1950-1953); and 6.1 million in peacetime. (Source: Table 506 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

430,000
In 2006, number of living veterans who served during both the Vietnam era and the Gulf War.

Other living veterans in 2006 who served in two or more wars:

350,000 served during both the Korean and Vietnam wars.

78,000 served during three periods: World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

294,000 served in World War II and the Korean War. (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)
3
The documented number of living World War I veterans who served with U.S. forces as of Oct. 2, 2007. (Source: Department of Veterans Affairs)

Where They Live

6
Number of states with 1 million or more veterans in 2006. These states are California (2.2 million), Florida (1.7 million), Texas (1.7 million), New York (1.1 million), Pennsylvania (1.1 million) and Ohio (1 million). (Source: Table 505 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

Education

25%
Percent of veterans 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree in 2006. (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)

90%
Percent of veterans 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher in 2006. (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)

Income and Poverty

$34,437
Annual median income of veterans, in 2006 inflation-adjusted dollars. (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)

5.9%
Percentage of veterans living in poverty, as of 2006. The corresponding rate for nonveterans was 12.3 percent. (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)

On the Job

11.1 million
Number of veterans 18 to 64 in the labor force in 2006. (Source: 2005 American Community Survey.)

Disabilities

6.1 million
Number of veterans with a disability. More than half this number (3.5 million) were 65 and older. (Source: 2006 American Community Survey.)

Voting

17.4 million
Number of veterans who voted in the 2004 presidential election. Seventy-four percent of veterans cast a ballot, compared with 63 percent of nonveterans. (Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004, at

Business Owners

14.5%
Percentage of owners of firms that responded to the 2002 Survey of Business Owners who were veterans. Respondent veteran business owners totaled 3 million. (Source: Characteristics of Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2002 at )

68%
Percentage of veteran owners of respondent firms who were 55 and older. This compares with 31 percent of all owners of respondent firms. Similarly, in 2002, 55 percent of veteran-owned respondent firms with employees reported that their businesses were established, purchased, or acquired before 1990, compared with 36 percent of all employer respondent firms. (Source: Characteristics of Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2002 and Characteristics of Veteran Business Owners: 2002, at )

7%
Percentage of all respondent veteran owners who were disabled as the result of injury incurred or aggravated during active military service. (Source: Characteristics of Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2002 and Characteristics of Veteran Business Owners: 2002, at )

Benefits

2.7 million
Number of veterans who received compensation for service-connected disabilities as of 2006. Their compensation totaled $26.6 billion.
(Source: Tables 508 and 509 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

Jan. 21, 2007
The date of death of the last World War I veteran receiving compensation or pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Source: Department of Veterans Affairs)

$72.4 billion
Total amount of federal government spending for veterans benefits programs in fiscal year 2006. Of this total, $34.5 billion went to compensation and pensions and $31.3 billion for medical programs. (Source: Table 508 of the upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.)

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/010733.html

How could anyone ever look at veterans as "normal" when they are unlike the rest of us who have never had to do what they have had to do?

There is a training procedure the Pentagon has never even contemplated tackling when they train the soldiers to take care of their weapons and use them. They never thought about training the families to love them proactively. They never trained them to watch over them and know when they need help. Yet as this report provides even more support to the claim it is the spouse who is the one who notices the affects of combat, they are the last to understand what it all is and what needs to be done about it. If 40% see the mental health changes and harm, then why is it less than 40% of the veterans seek help? Why isn't it 100% of the veterans with PTSD seeking help when if it had been a bullet wound, they all would be treated? It's because the military has yet to treat PTSD like all other wounds.


Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington