Reported Cases Of PTSD In Soldiers Up 50% In 2007, According To Defense Officials

The number of U.S. service members diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder increased by nearly 50% from 2006 to 2007, according to Pentagon data released on Tuesday, the Washington Post reports. Nearly 40,000 soldiers who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan from 2003 to 2007 have been diagnosed by the military as having PTSD (Scott Tyson, Washington Post, 5/28). In 2007, nearly 14,000 cases of PTSD were diagnosed by military officials, compared with more than 9,500 new cases in 2006 and 1,632 in 2003, Army data show (Jelinek, AP/New York Times, 5/28).

Military officials said that the numbers represent a fraction of service members who have PTSD because the data do not include those diagnosed by Department of Veterans Affairs workers or civilian caregivers, and those who do not seek care, according to the Post (Washington Post, 5/28). According to the AP/San Francisco Chronicle, “Officials have estimated that roughly 50% of troops with mental health problems don’t get treatment because they’re embarrassed or fear it will hurt their careers” (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 5/28). Schoomaker said, “We’re in our infancy right now of fully knowing what the extent of this is” (Washington Post, 5/28).

If you are an alternative health practitioner in the United States, please consider offering returning US military members and contract service providers at least one free full session as part of the Honor A Veteran program at honor-a-veteran.org. If you are a returning veteran, either active, Guard, Reserve, or inactive/retired; or you are the family member of a veteran or active duty person (including DOD contracted services providers and/or family member of one), please point your web browser to honor-a-veteran.org and find a practitioner nearest you. Don’t wait. Do it now. It’s important to me. It’s important to all of us in the USA.

Thank you for serving. As a retired Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran, I salute my brothers and sisters in uniform and honor their service. And although I am at complete odds with the Administration concerning their service, I am completely and 100% behind them and their families and can’t thank them enough for their sacrifice.