Almost 1/3 of U.S. soldiers seeking government health care after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12356941.htm

US war veterans need more mental help -study
12 Mar 2007 21:21:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO, March 12 (Reuters) - Almost one-third of U.S. soldiers seeking government health care after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are diagnosed with a mental problem, researchers said on Monday in a study calling for more emphasis on the mental wounds of war.

Diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and other problems were most prevalent among younger soldiers, the veterans study found.

The challenge to provide better care to soldiers with mental problems as well as physical wounds comes amid revelations of substandard care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and other Veterans Affairs hospitals. The revelations have prompted the resignations of the Army secretary and the Army surgeon general.

Study author Dr. Karen Seal of the University of California and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center said the prevalence of mental problems among veterans threatens "to bring the war back home as a costly personal and public health burden."

"Our results signal a need for improvements in the primary prevention of military service-related mental health disorders, particularly among our youngest service members," Seal wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study found that 25 percent of U.S. veterans returning from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan sought government-sponsored care, compared to 10 percent of Vietnam war veterans.

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