Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Government Initiatives to Relieve It

Abstract

Thousands of brave men and women have died fighting for our country in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even thousands more have returned with physical injuries that will change their lives forever. There is also growing mental health crisis among many of the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan--one that can be just as damaging and life altering for our veterans as it can be for our troops. Their mental health diagnoses can range from depression to substance abuse to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is defined as a psychological reaction that occurs after experiencing highly stressing ... that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, flashbacks, recurrent nightmares, and avoidance of reminders of the event (Post-traumatic stress disorder, n.d.). The most recent and extreme example of the psychological impact that war can have on an individual involves Sergeant John M. Russell of Sherman, Texas. Sgt. Russell is accused of walking into Baghdad stress clinic and opening fire, killing five of his comrades. He was on his third tour in Iraq and just two weeks from completing his latest deployment. Although this issue comes to the attention of the public when tragedy occurs, hundreds of thousands of men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have the potential to suffer mental health problems. The broad scope of this problem results from the nature of service in today's war zones. As the U.S. Army's Mental Health Advisory Team reported in 2007, the war in Iraq remains very personal.... More than three quarters of soldiers and marines surveyed reported being in situations where they could be seriously injured or killed. Both soldiers and marines report at relatively high rates that they knew someone seriously injured or killed or had member of their team become casualty. (Castro & McGurk, 2007, p. 10) The stressors of service can lead directly to mental health problems. As stated in the 2007 report, there is linear relationship between combat level and screening positive for anxiety, depression, acute stress and any mental health problem. For both anxiety and depression, soldiers are 2.4 to 2.6 times more likely to screen positive if they experience high combat versus low combat. For acute stress (PTSD), soldiers are 3.5 times more likely to screen positive if they experience high combat than if they experience low combat. (Castro & McGurk, 2007, p. 15) The stress inherent in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters is compounded by the fact that so many of our service members have been, and continue to be, deployed for multiple tours. In fact, of the nearly 1.8 million men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, 37 percent have been deployed more than once (Litz & Schlenger, 2009). These multiple deployments are increasing the incidence of mental health problems. As found in the 2007 Mental Health Advisory Team report, soldiers deployed to Iraq more than once were more likely to screen positive for acute stress (PTSD), depression, anxiety, or any other mental health problem than were first timers. For acute stress (PTSD), multiple deployers were 1.6 times more likely to screen positive than were first-time deployers. (Castro & McGurk, 2007, p. 17) The strain of multiple deployments is increased by giving service members too little time between deployments (known as dwell time) to fully rebalance and recover. Stop loss--the policy of extending service member's tour by months or years--only adds to the mental stress. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that the recent tragedy regarding Sgt. Russell highlights the need for additional help in dealing with the emotional toll that multiple deployments have taken on our service members under current service conditions (Williams, 2009). The armed services are developing programs to address psychological health. …