Nearly One-Third of Iraq, Afghanistan Vets Returning Home with Mental Health Problems

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/176402/nearly_onethird_of_iraq_afghanistan.html

Approximately one-third of soldiers who visited a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital after returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2001 and 2005 have one or more diagnosable mental health disorders, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. A report of these findings appears in the March 12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers analyzed data on nearly 104,000 veterans. 54 percent of the subjects were under age 30, nearly one-third were minorities, and 13 percent were women. Approximately half of the veterans were in the National Guard or Reserves.

31 percent of the veterans were diagnosed with mental health and/or psychosocial disorders. 52 percent of those diagnosed had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the most common problem encountered in the study. Of the 25 percent with mental health disorders, 56 percent had two or more disorders. 18- to 24-year-olds -- the youngest veterans - made up the highest risk group for mental health problems.

"Twenty-five percent of veterans who were new users of the VA health care system had a mental health diagnosis," said Dr. Karen H. Seal, from the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center. Seal led the research team. "When you include psychosocial behavioral problems, 31 percent had a psychosocial or mental health diagnosis." She added, "This new generation of veterans will be challenging to treat, because they have co-occurring mental health disorders."

[Monkeyman]

1. This Number is low

Bush has been sending troops with mental problems back to Iraq. DOD is covering up the numbers