Military mental health disorders spike.
By on Jun 16th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Military mental health disorders spike.
“Mental health disorders are snowballing as more and more soldiers and Marines are sent back for repeat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan,” CBS News reports.
According to the Pentagon’s latest mental health survey, 31 percent of Marines, 38 percent of soldiers and 49 percent of the National Guard reported psychological symptoms such as anger, depression or alcohol abuse after returning home. As the director of the survey said, combat stress is not something you just get over.
Watch the full report:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/06/cbstroopmental.320.240.flv]
The Impolitic has commentary.
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Yes, but what will the Democrats in DC do about it? They caved in to Bush to continue to fund the Iraq Fiasco War, so more soldiers are having mental health problems.
June 16th, 2007 at 4:32 pmYes, but what will the Democrats in DC do about it? They caved in to Bush to continue to fund the Iraq Fiasco War, so more soldiers are having mental health problems.
Comment by Jay Randal
Again, the Democrats are just as much a part of the problem, as the Republicans are.
June 16th, 2007 at 4:34 pmWe are not only killing these soldiers physically, we are also killing them mentally. These people are going to be very angry for a very long time and it is their loved ones who will suffer. One has to ask why. Perhaps they feel that they were put in a hopeless situation where there was no victory possible.
And watch our government forsake these soldiers. I have already read that they are refusing to find them disabled on grounds of mental problems. Often they try to claim that the person had mental problems when they entered the military. If that is so, then why the hell did they take them in the first place.
Support our troops…bring them home NOW!
June 16th, 2007 at 4:40 pmYea commiting murder just for the thrill of it kind of weighs on your mind after a while.
June 16th, 2007 at 4:44 pmWhat does one expect as Bush sends them back for 3 and 4 tours and into a situation they really don’t understand as to why they are there. Or maybe they do understand they are killing and being killed for the control of oil and that alone is a mind blower.
June 16th, 2007 at 4:59 pmOff Topic, sorry….RU and his beautiful little daughter made it out to the resort a little while ago..Thank You for the hug’s Wayne, Jane and Lady Z.They are fishing off the dock as I type…Blessings..Back to renting boat’s and doing laundry…
June 16th, 2007 at 5:08 pmWe are not only killing these soldiers physically, we are also killing them mentally.
Comment by Kate Henry
I have 3 friends that are Vietnam Vets. They are all great guys, but every single one of them suffers from PTSD and are complete basket cases, that can’t even hold any jobs down.
June 16th, 2007 at 5:26 pmDuh. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We were expected to be welcomed as heros just like George W, the all-american fly boy. The nice cheap oil was ours for the taking. What’s wrong with those people, what’s wrong with those soldiers, what’s wrong with those damn liberal democrats, what’s wrong with all those people jumping ship…?
June 16th, 2007 at 6:06 pmUnfortunately, the bending over of the Dems on the Iraq funding war will cost them dearly – not only in terms of credibility but also in terms of lost lives, and severely mentally compromised citizens who return. After all, when one is forced to play “monkey in the middle” of a Civil War and have no idea who the enemy actually is, it’s enough to drive even the most mentally intact individual over the edge. Factor in months of this repeated fear & behavior and you’ve got a prescription for insanity over time.
June 16th, 2007 at 6:16 pmOf course, Team Bush NEVER factors into the cost of this illegal war the money it will take for the care of our returning vets – both physically and mentally. I fear that the mental destruction will be far worse than the physical handicaps – we’re destroying our children. It’s bad enough that there are some 18,000 with war injuries – but the mental effects of this will be unbelievable.
June 16th, 2007 at 6:18 pmAlthough I would never support a Republican because although there may be one who is anti-war, the rest of the personal characteristics and beliefs which contribute to his makeup are generally repulsive and repugnant; however, that being said, there are many people who are extremely disappointed in the spinelessness of the Democrats right now. It’s time for the Dems to stop playing nicey-nice and to go for the gonads!
June 16th, 2007 at 6:20 pmSo, do the results mean that the Marines are that much tougher, have been assigned a less stressful role in Iraq, or are more deeply in denial regarding any adverse psychological impacts from their participation in the U.S. occupation?
June 16th, 2007 at 6:21 pmwhen your leaders lie about why you are going to war and you see with your own eyes the truth that you are killing for the wrong reasons and the rationale shifts daily depending on the debunked evidence, sure there’s going to be a lot of mental health disorders. you construct a mental framework of why it is necessary to be in Iraq and how you are fighting for Iraqi freedom and global democracy, but then your government arms the same sunni’s who were shooting at you a few days ago. When soldiers can’t even answer, “who is the enemy?”, these numbers are only going to get worse.
June 16th, 2007 at 6:52 pmYea commiting murder just for the thrill of it kind of weighs on your mind after a while.
Comment by old hack — June 16, 2007 @ 4:44 pm
What an ignorant, offensive jerk!!!
June 16th, 2007 at 7:41 pmI would be curious to find the percentage of the population that abuses alcohol in the 18-29 age bracket, for a comparison?
June 16th, 2007 at 7:45 pmhttp://www.drug-rehabs.org/alcohol-statistics.php
Among young adults age 18 to 25 years, almost 23% drove under the influence of alcohol.
Nearly one out of 4 Americans admitted to general hospitals have alcohol problems or are undiagnosed alcoholics being diagnosed for alcohol related consequences.
June 16th, 2007 at 7:48 pmhttp://www.depression-management.info/statistics.html
In any given year – 12% of woman and 6.6 % of men (all types of depressive illnesses combined), Over their lifetime about 20% or women and 10% of men will have clinical depression.
http://www.stressdirections.com/personal/about_stress/stress_statistics.html
Job burnout experienced by 25% to 40% of U.S. workers is blamed on stress.
With that and alcohol looks like they are doing better than their civilian counterparts.
June 16th, 2007 at 7:57 pmI would be curious to find the percentage of the population that abuses alcohol in the 18-29 age bracket, for a comparison?
Comment by Tundra — June 16, 2007 @ 7:45 pm
Post them when you find them – because the statistics you post aren’t related to *alcohol-abuse*. Someone that has a couple of beers and drives can be ‘driving under the influence’ – you retarded texas *ssh*le. Then again, you come from the state where you can drink and carry firearms in your car – what do *YOU* know about alcohol abuse? Idiot!
June 16th, 2007 at 7:58 pmComment by ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus — June 16, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
I live in New York, glad to see you don’t just run around spouting garbage.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10925
Definition of Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse: Use of alcoholic beverages to excess, either on individual occasions (”binge drinking”) or as a regular practice. For some individuals-children or pregnant women, for example-almost any amount of alcohol use may be legally considered “alcohol abuse,” depending on local laws. Heavy alcohol abuse can cause physical damage and death.
June 16th, 2007 at 8:05 pmhttp://www.olcc.state.or.us/pdfs/alcoholabusefactsheet.pdf
36.8% of 18 to 25 year olds participate in Binge Drinking. Throw in the other stats for depression and anger and they cope better. Most likely their training I would suppose.
June 16th, 2007 at 8:11 pmsnowballing
June 16th, 2007 at 8:37 pmWell now, who’d have thought it, eh?
Certainly not Colonel, Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the US Army surgeon general, it seems.
June 16th, 2007 at 8:41 pmIt’s truly sad that this thread did not get more responses.
Mental Illness is still so misunderstood – at least in our country.
People who have experienced traumatic situations, and the deep depression that follows, are not damaged people that should “snap out of it” as some would say.
Their brain chemistry becomes altered.
Why don’t people understand?
June 16th, 2007 at 10:38 pmI truly hope that these people find someone who can help them, and someday achieve peace.
“Among young adults age 18 to 25 years, almost 23% drove under the influence of alcohol.”
I guarantee you that was not a blind poll. I would be interested to know exactly how the question was asked. That seems awfully low.
June 16th, 2007 at 11:15 pmtrueblue, you are right. This thread deserves a lot of attention. I really don’t know what to say about it though. War is going to f^ck people up. Killing people you don’t know tends to do that no matter how hard the military drills into you that your enemy is not actually human. We are going to have a new wave of the veteran homeless because of this shameful war. And the righties don’t give one small d^mn.
June 16th, 2007 at 11:19 pmAn Associated Press video quotes one Iraq veteran, who suffers from mental illness himself now, as supporting mandatory mental health checkups every six months for all returning soldiers, saying PTSD is normal but the stigma of metal illness is high.
– Michael from the U.S. Desk at TheNewsRoom.com
June 17th, 2007 at 1:26 amIt’s because of all the mercury in the large amount of vaccines they get before and during deployment.
During the first Gulf War, soldiers who didn’t get vaccinated – such as the French who were in the Gulf – didn’t get Gulf War Syndrome.
Pilots who didn’t even go to the Gulf got Gulf War Syndrome and the highest rates, also receiving the most mercury-containing vaccines.
myspace.com/toxicmercury
ToxicMercury.org (coming soon!)
June 17th, 2007 at 1:28 amNo Deniz, I doubt it is from the vaccines. I would guess it is from the slaughter of innocent people. You have a good cause but heyzues, blaming vaccines for PTSD is just f^cking stupid.
June 17th, 2007 at 1:35 amMercury exposure causes neurological diseases, including psychological disorders.
It’s either triggering, worsening, or entirely causing these diseases.
I also mentioned Gulf War when I talked about vac vs un-vac soldiers since the un-vaccinated soldiers didn’t get Gulf War Syndrome at all, as I mentioned.
Mercury also causes anger problems, as is seen any any ND that mercury mimics the symptoms of such as Parkinson’s or Fibromyalgia.
I guess poisoning our troops and making them even more irritable must be the Pentagon’s strategy, not to mention the Depleted Uranium.
I feel sorry for our troops being riddled with toxins.
June 17th, 2007 at 4:07 pmBe prepared for a good bunch of “Rambo incidents” in the next years…
June 18th, 2007 at 9:18 amTundra,
Spoken like someone who has never had serious PTSD. Drinking under the influence is bad, anger issues and depression all bad, no doubt. But the unrelenting psychological trauma of PTSD takes over every part of your life (and includes all the above plus more: anger, depression, despair, substance abuse, phobia’s, fear, powerlessness, self loathing, etc etc). There isn’t even any relief in your dreams. It can suck your soul dry, and everyone around you. It is up there with Schizophrenia in sheer destructiveness, not the issues you mentioned.
As for the differing stats among types of military, I imagine that it is because people for the most part actively choose (and know what they are getting into) when joining the marines. Whereas if you are some poor national guard member that hoped to help out in a national disaster or two and maybe even manage to get through college but then somehow end up in the killing fields of Iraq, your rates will be much increased. The perception of powerlessness is one of the biggest indicators of who will eventually develop PTSD.
June 18th, 2007 at 11:42 amThe interesting thing is the amount of trash that people like to run their mouths about, all the while having no idea about that which they are speaking. For those of you that think that marines are in denial about what they do while deployed are not only ignorant but also are intellectually dishonest. The theme seems to be prevalent throughout the thread and exemplified by many who have decided to leave their thoughts here. The truth is that Marines have less psychological problems statistically because simply put, we have better training. We have always had better training and always will! For hundreds of years the United States Marines have exemplified the best of military professionalism and proficiency and it is because of this fact that we are so successful in combat. Marines are the best fighting force on the planet! Marines join the Marine Corps not because we want to pay for college, and not because we think we want to serve, we join because we want to be part of something, part of the best! We join in search of those intangible characteristics and rewards, in search of those ideas that make men, men and are necessary for NOT GOING INTO WAR- BUT WINNING WAR! Marines become Marines because we exemplify all that is good and best in America and we know that deep down it is worth fighting for.
June 24th, 2007 at 9:44 pmIt is this ethos and attitude that transcends all of your poor and misguided judgments about the war and about those in it. I can say from personal experience that so called “soldiers†like Jessica Lynch and other members of our national guard are terrible at being just that- soldiers. They lack discipline, honor, courage, commitment, integrity, bearing, loyalty, and a whole group of other characteristics that are necessary for going into combat. It is true that MANY of those “soldiers†in Iraq should not be there right now, and it is a mistake to send them there because they cannot handle it, they are not ready and they lack the skills necessary to be successful. War is hell, and protecting this country is not a job for the meek or for the mild or for those interested in a free ride for a college education.
Our military is completely 100% voluntary and believe it or not you can easily join the military and never ever ever go to Iraq! You can join the army, become a career recruiter, pick your station and spend 20 or 15 years stateside recruiting out of some strip mall in the suburbs. Those who take the oath and decide to enlist and deploy know full well what they are doing and full well that they have other options in life. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.