Number of troops with PTSD up 50 percent

[unhappycamper]

Number of troops with PTSD up 50 percent
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 27, 2008 18:17:49 EDT

WASHINGTON — The number of troops with new cases of post-traumatic stress disorder jumped by roughly 50 percent in 2007 amid the military buildup in Iraq and increased violence there and in Afghanistan.

Records show roughly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the illness, also known as PTSD, since 2003. Officials believe that many more are likely keeping their illness a secret.

“I don’t think right now we ... have good numbers,” Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker said Tuesday.

Defense officials had not previously disclosed the number of PTSD cases from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Army statistics showed there were nearly 14,000 newly diagnosed cases across the services in 2007 compared with more than 9,500 new cases the previous year and 1,632 in 2003.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_ptsd_052708/