Friday, February 10, 2006

Tick...tick...tick...tick...

More good news for the soldiers Washington D.C. sent to war essentially on a bet. From Bob Geiger:
...up to one-third of Iraq war Veterans will suffer from some degree of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).


120,000 soldiers have sought health care, and...31 percent of them are being reviewed for possible mental health disorders, with the prevailing diagnosis being PTSD. A big difference from previous wars...is that 13 percent of those soldiers are women.

PTSD, which commonly arises from prolonged exposure to combat and the ongoing threat of death or serious injury, is characterized by recurrent thoughts of trauma, reduced involvement in work or outside interests, hyper alertness, anxiety and irritability. Alcoholism and drug abuse are also common among Veterans suffering from PTSD.


...the Iraq war will create a whole new generation of mental health problems in America due to the unique conditions of this war – including that much of the conflict in Iraq, particularly since George W. Bush made his false claim that major combat operations had ended, has involved guerilla warfare and terrorist actions from ambiguous and unknown civilian threats.

They look like such big, strong hands, don't they?

1 comment:

jeopardygirl said...

Is that better or worse than the over 1 million young Englishmen that died in WWI? Somehow, I think it's worse.