Multiple Deployments Raises Risk of PTSD by Three Times

When the last straw broke the camels back, the owner thought the camel was doing just fine although his tongue must have been hanging out and his knees must have been buckling under all the weight. He didn't notice simply because he didn't want to. This is what's been happening to our military and while some want to say they are just not tough enough, others want to say they should have known what they were getting into and others just want to hide their heads in the sand, these men and women, no matter how well trained and determined to do their duty, have had the weight added to them for far too long.

Maybe they could have been able to take even more if the rest of us had bothered to show up and help them carry their load, but we didn't. Maybe they could have come home and felt they were appreciated when it came to what they needed from us, but they didn't. We just kept asking more and more of them and their families, repeating the same mistakes over and over again when addressing the emotional toll they paid and now we're upset because some people are calling for the return of the draft. What can we expect when none of us wanted to go in their place at the same time we complained they needed help when they got back because they went in our place?

New VA Study: Multiple Deployments Raises Risk of PTSD by Three Times
Written by Patrik Jonsson
Sunday, 20 December 2009 10:02
Pentagon plays catch-up as toll of repeat combat duty rises

A Department of Veterans Affairs study reports a three-fold increase in depression and post-traumatic stress after repeat combat duty, raising questions about the Pentagon’s ability to keep soldiers with combat-related psychological problems away from the front.

December 17, 2009 (Christian Science Monitor) - Emotional pain, depression, and angst among US soldiers seeing multiple deployments in war zones are much more common than the Pentagon has reported, a new Department of Veterans Affairs survey says.

Soldiers facing multiple deployments, moreover, are at least three times more likely to anonymously report problems of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than are those with a single deployment, according to the study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.

Coming as 30,000 more troops are being sent to Afghanistan, the findings in a study of nearly 3,000 New Jersey National Guardsmen are likely to spur additional debate over military and societal response to America’s heavy dependence on volunteer soldiers for repeated deployments in two wars.

The findings also raise questions about the military’s ability – and willingness – to properly screen soldiers for combat-related problems that could limit their effectiveness in war zones, writes Anna Kline, lead author of the VA study.
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Multiple Deployments Raises Risk of PTSD by Three Times