PTSD and a million reasons to act now

Wounds of War
April 18, 2008
A report released yesterday by the Rand Corporation titled "Invisible Wounds of War" says that 1 in 5 soldiers, almost 300,000, who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan have major depression or post traumatic stress disorder.
The economic cost-- including medical care, lost productivity and lost lives through suicide -- is estimated at $4 billion to $6 billion over two years, according to the Washington Post .

The 500-page report, titled "Invisible Wounds of War," says prolonged and repeated exposure to combat stress is causing a disproportionately high psychological toll compared with physical injuries. It warns of "long-term, cascading consequences" for the nation -- ranging from a greater likelihood of drug use and suicide to increased marital problems and unemployment -- if the mental health problems are left untreated.

The survey of 1,965 service members (currently serving and veterans) from across the country also reveals that only about half of those experiencing mental illnesses have sought treatment. Even fewer who have suffered head trauma have seen a doctor.

The report is the first one done outside of the government, and according to Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker in a New York Times article, it was welcome.
The report is not much different from numbers from studies inside of the government, but officials say it could help distinguish the stigma of mental illness in military culture and encourage change that is much needed.

Additional Resources
Report summary and other resources
Read the full report (499 pages)
Veterans Resource Center

Call me "Chicken Little" for warning the sky is falling all you want. Tell me that I'm bucking the trend the "experts" are talking about right now because you have only heard from the ones getting the attention on PTSD. Dismiss my warning all you want but as in the past, I've been vindicated over and over again.

After dealing with, studying and reading nearly every report that has come out on PTSD for the last 25 years at a time when most people being interviewed were not even born yet, I know they are wrong. They think we are looking at just the 300,000 with PTSD and "mental illness" but they are repeating complicated studies boiled down to sound bites. The recent report also stated there are 320,000 with TBI. These are two separate wounds but most with TBI also have PTSD. TBI comes from a traumatic event. A bomb blast is traumatic in case some people didn't notice. I scoffed at how some were trying to say that TBI caused PTSD. I still do. It's not TBI causing PTSD in some, but the event itself. PTSD is caused by a traumatic event and anytime you read something leading you to believe that is not the cause, move onto another article. Keep in mind that in your own life you may have been to a doctor, educated with degrees hanging all over their office, but turned out to be a hack making you turn to get a second opinion. It happens all the time. This is all I've focused on for all this time and there are experts I trust and researchers I believe. The clues are all in what they write, the data they provide and their track record.

The beginning of this year, I was leaning toward looking at 800,000 with PTSD. Now I know I was wrong. To factor in the redeployments is very hard. Given the recent reports, we are no longer looking at 800,000, but at least one million with PTSD from both occupations. I'm pissed off more than you can believe right now. Yes, even more than I have been. Had they listened when people like me were screaming when these occupations were in the planning stages, the hospitals would have been built already, the mental health workers would have already been in place and the funding would already be working instead of making its way through the system. The stigma of PTSD would be gone. There would not have been any dishonorable discharges for "personality disorders" and there would have been very few suicides. The hearings in Washington would not be asking the same questions over and over again that have been asked since Vietnam. Researchers would not be looking at what they already knew. Instead they would be looking at new research for new techniques. There would have been advancement in medication. The most important aspect of all of this is no one would still be wondering what PTSD is.

If you think the numbers were are looking at right now are high stop and think about one glaring fact. If the numbers were real, then why on earth would the DOD and the VA not be able to deal with any of this? They are not telling us everything they know, everything they see and what they are already dealing with. The longer this goes on, the more I will increase the numbers I'm warning about but the problem is, no one is listening. There will be far too many than anyone could have imagined in society, but exactly what the experts should have been predicting all along.

Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://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