Some GIs have undergone second post-combat mental exams

[seemslikeadream]

Monday, January 31, 2005

By Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, January 31, 2005


While the Department of Defense will soon start requiring troops to undergo a series of mental health evaluations for post traumatic stress — both immediately upon returning from Iraq or Afghanistan and up to six months later — many soldiers in Europe have already undergone the evaluations.

The Department of Defense announced the new program last week, based on studies that showed that symptoms of mental health problems often occurred after troops returned to their normal routine.

The need for additional testing in Europe arose after soldiers from the Vicenza, Italy-based Southern European Task Force returning from a one-year deployment to Iraq last March.

Upon their return, only 6.5 percent of the soldiers tested positive for symptoms of mental health disorder. The low number didn’t seem accurate to the SETAF command, which ordered a new test four months later. The second test revealed that 15 percent of the soldiers showed symptoms.

The U.S. Army Europe ordered similar tests for months later for 1st Armored Division soldiers after they returned from Iraq last summer. Results were similar.

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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=26902

[gratuitous]

1. Four months after returning from the war . . .

15% of those returning show symptoms of a mental health disorder. That's about one in six or one in seven. I wonder if the recruiters mention that during their pitch?

"See Bobby, with 150,000 troops in Iraq right about now, and the death count about to hit 1,500, you have a 1 in 100 chance of getting killed. If you don't get killed, there's a 1 in 6 chance you'll come back screwed up mentally. When you get to your unit, look around at the other dozen or so guys. The odds are that at least two of them will come back needing counseling or medication to help them deal with what they experience in Iraq. Of course in the macho world of the military, seeking out professional help for mental health problems is seen as weakness, so a lot of those guys are going to self-medicate with whatever drugs they have at hand. If that drug is alcohol, they at least have the advantage of knowing they won't go to jail for abusing a legal drug. If they choose to start smoking marijuana or they need something a little more numbing, they'll have the chance to go to jail. And Uncle Sam will then feel quite free to break his promise of benefits to a soldier who's nothing more than a dirty druggie. Sign right here. And here. And here."