Catastrophe - Dick Morris [132]
Today we face a similar problem with the 1.6 million soldiers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the coming months they will be returning home in increasing numbers, and we must not let them down as we did those who fought for us in Vietnam. We must help them to come to grips with their experiences—to learn how to survive them, lest they be crippled by nightmares, flashbacks, delusions, depression, or worse.
Unfortunately, there is scant evidence that the VA is making the necessary adjustments to deal with this impending crisis—despite the massive increase in its funding that President Obama has proposed. Much more needs to be done to alert Congress and the administration to the horrific issues faced by returning veterans.
Though Obama and the VA seem eager to assure these vets that they will receive free health care, good homes, and, if possible, jobs, they don’t appear to be giving equal emphasis to the need to help restore healthy minds.
The disaster is the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from which these returning veterans will suffer. The catastrophe is how slowly our government is coming to grips with how to treat it.
Though the military has made progress in training leaders on how to deal with depression and PTSD, Colonel Platoni says, “there is still a huge problem with leadership who shame them when they seek treatment.”533
The macho culture of “suck it up, kid” is still very much with us.
The prevalence of PTSD has become more and more apparent as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have dragged on. Everyone in the military was shocked when a Pentagon study estimated that 10 percent of the returning soldiers met the military’s criteria for PTSD.534 Out of 222,620 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that it evaluated in its recent study, the Pentagon found that 21,620 had the condition.535 Of those diagnosed with PTSD or depression, 80 percent reported having seen combat, fired their weapon, and watched people being killed or wounded. Of those who tested negative, only half had had these searing experiences.536
The New England Journal of Medicine puts the rates even higher. In its study of four combat units (three Army and one Marine) returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, the Journal found that 17 percent of the Iraq veterans and 11 percent of those coming home from Afghanistan suffered from PTSD.537
But the most recent study—by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, in April 2008—shows that, with repeated deployments, the problem is escalating sharply. RAND says that 20 percent of the veterans of both the Iraq and the Afghan wars—300,000 men and women in total—will suffer from PTSD or serious depression by the end of their tours of duty there.538 The study also found that 19 percent report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed.539 And 7 percent have both PTSD and possible traumatic brain injury.540
RAND estimates that it will cost $6.2 billion to treat the PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injuries of the returning soldiers.541 “There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Terri Tanielian, the project’s coleader and a researcher at RAND. “Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation. Unfortunately, we found there are many barriers preventing them from getting the high-quality treatment they need.”542
PTSD was first officially diagnosed in 1980 at the request of Vietnam veterans organizations. Once known as “shell shock” or combat fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder can develop after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event.
USA Today notes that PTSD “produces a wide range