21,620 of the 222,620 American troops returning from Iraq have been found to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. These important findings were drawn from the impact of combat deployments on mental health care utilization. Doctors Hoge, Acuchterlonie and Milliken looked at the use of mental health care facilities during the troops first year of return, to see what the relationship was between the reporting of mental health problems and the actual amount of use of mental health care services.
Troops from a number of deployments returning between May 1st 2003 and 30th April 2004 were given mental health screening. The Army researchers found that more troops from Iraq met the military's, "risk criteria for a mental health concern" than from other deployments such as Afghanistan and Bosnia. They found 19.1% of returning US military personnel from Iraq compared to 11.3% from Afghanistan and 8.5% from other deployments suffered mental health difficulties of varying seriousness.
Combat experiences significant to mental health difficulties
Of the troops who were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress the majority (80%) said they had seen people being killed, wounded, had participated in combat and fired their weapon. This was in contrast to half of the troops with no diagnosis who had the same sort of violent combat experience.
Predicting military mental health facilities requirement for returning troops
One of the aims for this research was to find out the numbers of troops requiring help on their return from conflict and war. To try to predict mental health requirements of troops from combat zones allows the military to put into place appropriate services and facilities.
One of the interesting things about this research was the differences in requirement depending on the troops area of deployment. Soldiers returning from Iraq reported mental health concerns and higher use of mental health services than troops from Afghanistan or other locations. One in five veterans returning from Iraq reported concerns about their mental health, about one-third ultimately went for at least one session to be evaluated or counseling. It showed the difficulties in responding to mental health problems where there appears to be a high level of need.
Armed Forces Response to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The way in which combat stress has been dealt with has changed profoundly in the last century. The armed forces have a long history of response to combat stress, from firing squads to the more enlightened therapies and pre and post deployment screening tools that are now available. More information on the history of combat stress.
Men recognizing and seeking help for mental health problems
Men are notoriously bad at admitting they have mental health problems and this is particularly marked within the armed forces where there is a strong male orientated culture. Responses to this interesting research has been that the numbers of troops admitting mental health difficulties is probably underreported by the troops themselves.
However cultural changes that have taken place over time can be seem in the history of response to combat stress over the last century. It is more acceptable to admit to mental difficulties without it being seen as weakness or as the individual being deficient in some way.
Clearly more research is required in this important area of care for troops that are required to fight wars on behalf of their country, its people and government.
Article source: Mental Health Problems, Use of Mental Health Services, and Attrition From Military Service After Returning From Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Charles W. Hoge, MD; Jennifer L. Auchterlonie, MS; Charles S. Milliken, MD. JAMA.(Journal of the American Medical Association) 2006;295:1023-1032.
