Active Soldiers Mental Health

American troops serve their countries and for them to return home only to be scrutinized harshly by other citizens and even the government is very disappointing. “’There’s a real lack of capacity to deliver any meaningful mental-health care, especially specialized care like PTSD treatment for veterans,’”(Thompson troubled) There are many possible solutions to solve the crisis of American soldiers coming back from war and having post-traumatic stress, some of which include, doing background/physical exams on soldiers prior to war, having the government take care of the soldiers after they return home, and the U.S. could send robots soldiers to war instead of humans.

Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

With that in mind, the Army conducted the very first study on the mental health of Iraq troops which discovered that “one in eight [soldiers] reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder” (“1”). In addition to this, the study evinced that “less than half of those with problems sought help, mostly out of fear of being stigmatized or hurting their careers” (“1”).

The main problem discovered is military members are experiencing psychological problems from stressors due to deployments and not seeking help for their discomforts. Many of the military members returning

We have all seen or read about the political and social upheavals caused by war. Some may have even experienced it first-hand. Throughout history war has had negative psychological implications on those effected. However, there is no greater negative impact of war than the psychological and emotional turmoil that it causes individual soldiers.

Military service members who are and have been deployed to the middle east show high levels of emotional distress and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both active duty and reserve component soldiers who have experienced combat have been exposed to high levels of traumatic stress. As a consequence, many have gone on to develop a wide range of mental health problems such as PTSD. “According to researchers, PTSD is a long-term reaction to war-zone exposure that can last up to a few minutes, hours, several weeks, and for some a lifetime.” Common symptoms include: emotional numbing, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and depression. If the disorder turns chronic veterans may experience functional impairment (Friedman, M. J. et al., 1994, p.

Veterans are everywhere throughout the United States, but just because they are everywhere, doesn’t meant they are getting the proper care. According to the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America, “One in three veterans return home and suffer from some sort of mental health issue.” Their mental health issues vary from post traumatic stress disorder to anxiety and depression. The switch from fighting everyday to being home is tough for the veterans and they need to receive the proper treatment so they can possibly live a life as normal as possible. The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, started a $810,000 program to support these veterans with their issues returning home. The transition is hard, not

Of recent Veterans entering the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system, over 30% are diagnosed with a mental disorder. One of the most common diagnoses is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), given to 52% of those receiving mental health diagnoses [1, 2]. Moreover, an estimated 41% of Veterans enrolled in VA care reside in rural settings, including a disproportionate number of younger Veterans and female Veterans returning from the wars in the Iraq/Afghanistan regions (Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom [OEF/OIF] ). To meet the needs of the changing Veteran population, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is tasked with increasing access to and utilization of mental health services for geographically and culturally diverse Veterans. The exponential advancement in society’s use of technology, and the resultant field of e-mental health, provides a great opportunity to surmount current barriers many Veterans face when accessing mental health care. A number of resources have been developed to meet the needs of Veterans diagnosed with PTSD, yet few studies have examined willingness to use technology-based mental health treatment approaches within a sample of ethno-racially and geographically diverse veterans who served after September 11, 2001.

Afghanistan and Iraq veterans in the United States have a history of mental health disorders due to their time served in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 36.9% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder (Bertenthal, Gima, Maguen, Marmar, Metzler, and Seal, 2009). Of the 36.9% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, nearly 20% of the veterans were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Bertenthal et al., 2009). According to the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research 20% of the vets who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from either major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. 19.5% of vets in

These forms are either filled out before leaving combat zones, or within the first two weeks of returning home (Hoge, et al., 2006:1024). As with the other study, these surveys were geared to understanding the mental health of returning soldiers. The combat veterans involved in this research were returning from either Iraq or Afghanistan (Hoge, et al., 2006:1023). However, unlike the above study this one requires a follow up conducted 12 months later. The reasoning for the second survey is that some veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian (Hoge, et al., 2006:1025). Results show that there is a higher prevalence for Iraqi veterans to seek mental health help, over the Afghanistan veterans (Hoge, et al., 2006:1026-1027). Unfortunately, the majority of troops affected by PTSD are still not seeking

and veterans struggling with psychological problems. Do not let the bad press related to the VA medical services guide your decisions to use veteran services or not. All medical services are in a state of flux, and we must work to improve them for seniors and veterans. In case you are wondering, I am a Vietnam veteran; and I lost three dear friends. One won the Silver Star for his valor during the battle at Khe Sanh. A salute to all those who serviced our country!

In 2004 Operation Iraqi Freedom became the deadliest American military conflict since the Vietnam War. Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam have brought heightened awareness of military related PTSD, as well as the relationship and family problems that accompany the disorder. Studies have shown that 11% - 20% of Veterans that served in Iraq and 6% - 11% of veterans that were deployed to Afghanistan have suffered from PTSD. Veterans of operation Desert Storm suffer at a rate of about 10% and Vietnam veteran estimates have been as high as 30% – 50%.

In 2004, a study in "The New England Journal of Medicine" explored the mental health issues of soldiers before they were sent to Iraq or Afghanistan and within three to four months of their return. The study found that 17% of soldiers met the criteria for mental health disorders and were in need of treatment,

T. Stecker, J. Fortney, F. Hamilton, and I. Ajzen, 2007, address that mental health symptoms have the likelihood to increase within post deployment for military veterans, especially for the ones who have seen combat. An estimated quarter of recent war veterans who are currently receiving care in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Health Care System have reported mental health problems. Soldiers who have served in Iraq come home suffering from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Statistics of Iraq soldiers meeting the criteria for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is greater than the soldiers who served in Afghanistan. The mental health symptom rates for soldiers who served in Iraq were as high as 20% for PTSD, 18% for anxiety, and 15% for depression.

According to a Tanielian and Jaycox (2008) study, as of September 2014 there were approximately 2.7 million American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars”. Of the 2.7 million at least 20% of the veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan wars obtained PTSD and/or depression. However, it was noted that when interviewed, the military counselors stated that they believe that the percentage rate of veterans with PTSD was much higher. The number is said to continue to increase when combined with traumatic brain injury (TBI).