Killing somebody in combat more likely produce PTSD symptoms

Of nearly 2,800 soldiers surveyed, 40 percent reported killing or being responsible for somebody’s death in Iraq.

“Those who acknowledged killing somebody in combat were more likely to have PTSD symptoms, anger, relationship problems,” said Maguen, a staff psychologist at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Study finds troops risk emotional toll for taking enemy life in combat
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
European edition, Sunday, April 4, 2010
WASHINGTON — Army Capt. Grant Speakes had lived through the worst the Iraq war has unleashed: He had heard the screams of a soldier burned to death in a roadside bomb strike, stanched the bleeding of a soldier cut down by a sniper and killed an insurgent himself. He returned home haunted by the memories.

While riding in cars, he jumped when other vehicles pulled next to his. He drank too much. One night at his parents’ home, his father, retired Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, found his son sitting awake at 2 a.m., rocking back and forth alone in a chair.
One night he finally crumbled.

“My dad had been calling, leaving messages asking why I didn’t return his phone calls,” Grant Speakes said. “I just broke down and told him all the stuff I was dealing with. I was crying outside Hooters on the phone in Killeen, Texas. That was a low point for me.”

Soldiers such as Grant Speakes, who say they killed enemy troops in combat, are at greater risk of suffering combat stress and having emotional problems, a new study shows.

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