Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Iraqi War

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Iraqi War Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is increasingly common among members of the military services, especially those who have served in theaters of operation or war such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Ira Katz (2007), Deputy Chief of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, stated that at the end of the first half of fiscal year 2007, almost 720,000 military men and women separated from the armed forces after service in Iraq and Afghanistan and over 250,000 sought health care in Veterans Administration facilities, with approximately 45,000 individuals receiving care for post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is perhaps the most common mental disorder exhibited by returning American military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan (Katz, 2007; Greiger, 2007). Greiger (2007) states that about 12-20 percent of all combat soldiers returning from Iraq have probable PTSD while 7-15 percent have probable depression. These data suggest that PTSD is a major post-military service health problem which requires greater attention than it is currently receiving. A report on MSNBC.com (1 in 8 returning soldiers…, 2004) stated that PTSD tends to develop among military personnel after they have witnessed or experienced a traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, feelings of detachment, irritability, trouble concentrating, and sleeplessness. This report indicated that PTSD has been a problem among military personnel since Vietnam and throughout the Persian Gulf War. It appears to be increasing in direct relationship to the amount of time that military personnel spend deployed in a theater of war. According to Prins, Kimerling, and Leskin (2008), a substantial number of Iraqi War veterans are presenting in primary care health settings upon return from the front with varied symptoms indicative of PTSD; as these researchers stated, PTSD has many ill effects: • PTSD appears to be a key mechanism that accounts for the

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