Reply #24: AFP - Psychological trauma seen in US soldiers returning from Iraq: report

[maddezmom]

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - One in six American soldiers returning from Iraq (news - web sites) is suffering from psychological trauma, and the problem is likely to get worse as more troops return from longer tours.


A study by a US army research institute found that 15.6 percent of Marines and 17.1 percent of soldiers surveyed after they returned from Iraq suffered major depression, generalized anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, the Los Angeles Times said.


The disorder, formally identified by the American Psychiatric Association in 1985, is a debilitating change in the brain's chemistry that can include sleep disorders, panic attacks, violent outbursts, and acute anxiety, among other symptoms.


More than 30 percent of US veterans of the Vietnam War were afflicted, plunging tens of thousands into homelessness, addiction, crime and despair.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041114/ts_alt_afp/us_iraq_health&cid=1506&ncid=1480