Rand Corp. reports that almost 20% of the people who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD or depression. That seems like a very high number to me. Could it have been that high in the 'good' war, WWII? Is this high rate of problems a function of a volunteer army?
Also interesting is that half of those who claim to be affected do not report the problem for a number of reasons.
3 comments:
My own opinion is that it is the nature of the war causing a higher than average incidence of PTSD. WW2 was a conventional war against other nations' uniformed military. Soldiers knew and could recognize the enemy. Iraq, and to a lesser extent, Afghanistan, are different. Everyone is a potential enemy. This, coupled with inhumanely long tour lengths, is the reason for these high figures. I don't personally believe 'draft' or 'volunteer' is relevant. Drafted soldiers in WW1 suffered shell-shock - now known to be PTSD. The human mind can only tolerate so much stress before breaking.
Many don't report the problem because of the 'less-than-macho' stigma, and probably they don't want to admit it, even to themselves. After all, it's not so long ago this affliction was called by another name - cowardice.
I once mentioned to a psychiatrist that the reason so many Vietnam veterans were crazy was because they could not tell who was foe or friend and he said it was because they were not welcomed when they came home.
Seems the statistics for this war show that even when we welcome them home, problems still exist. It seems that moral people put in immoral situations suffer the worst.
You have mentioned several times that you think a draft is a good thing. I think if we saw war as a last resort, we might not need as big a military as we have now. 9-11 was a criminal action, not a military attack and if we had acted appropriately, the world would have assisted us in the pursuit of justice.
An average of 18 military veterans kill themselves each day. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080420/ap_on_re_us/veterans_care_lawsuit
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