PTSD and TBI veterans don't seem to get better

MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH
They Don’t Seem to Get Better…
By MARK THOMPSON
February 23, 2012

That might be one conclusion to be drawn from this wrenching chart in a new Congressional Budget Office report on how the Department of Veterans Affairs is handling wounded troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. The chart shows that nearly all the troops afflicted with both ailments remain under the VA’s care after four years of care. In contrast, only 42% of the troops seeking VA care with neither diagnosis were still under VA care after four years’ treatment.

Vets suffering from PTSD and/or TBI are likely treated longer because “those patients might have had more clinically complicated conditions that took longer to resolve. In addition, those patients’ more intensive initial use of services might have predisposed them to continue pursuing care,” the study says. “Because of their conditions, moreover, some patients could also have had limited opportunities for employment, a common source of alternative health care options.”
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