http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080525/NEWS07/805250566Wounded vets confront sex issues
Professionals aim to help them restore relationships
BY JANE NORMAN • DES MOINES REGISTER • May 25, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Wounded troops arriving home from Iraq and Afghanistan face a problem so personal and intimate it's difficult to even mention -- how to reestablish a sexual relationship with a spouse or partner.
"It's something that's taboo. We don't talk about such things," said Margaret Giannini, director of the Office on Disability for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. snip
Carmona said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan presents new challenges for sexual and mental health. There are more blast injuries, more amputations, more injuries to genitalia and more brain injuries not readily detected.
On a warm, sunny day in front of Naval National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., "there are rows of wheelchairs, with 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids missing arms, missing legs," he said.With advances in medical technology, they may be alive for another 50 years, "but what are we doing for their mental health?" Carmona asked.