An announcement from the good folks at Veterans for Common Sense:
VCS Releases Redeployment Guide on Veterans Day
Availability of readjustment benefits for returning Iraq War veterans is still a problem, said a national veterans’ organization today. Veterans for Common Sense, a non-partisan veterans’ organization focused on national security, veterans’ care, civil liberties and energy policy, released its Resource Guide for Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom on Veterans’ Day. The guide is intended to provide a comprehensive directory of services and programs available to returning veterans.
In particular, the group focused on the need for better availability of treatment for war-related trauma. According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, as many as one in seven returning soldiers from the first rotation of troops to Iraq in 2002-03 (OIF I) suffer from psychiatric conditions, including post-traumatic stress and depression. Further, according to the studies, only one in four symptomatic veterans actually sought treatment for their conditions due to fear of a negative impact on their careers. Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD., director of the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, notes in the same issue of NEJM that this estimate may be conservative, both because of the methodology of the study, as well as the delay sometimes seen before onset of PTSD symptoms after returning from combat.
“Twenty-five years after the recognition of PTSD as a serious consequence of war, a stigma still exists within the military for those who seek medical care for this condition,” said Charles Sheehan-Miles, the organization’s executive director and a 1991 Gulf War veteran. “Returning Iraq War veterans have reported difficulty seeking care, and in at least two cases have been subjected to court-martial in response to their seeking assistance.”
The organization notes that reports of suicides, both among deployed veterans and those recently returned, are on the rise. Sheehan-Miles said, “It’s an absolutely tragedy that military service-members who served honorably in combat are coming home and unable to get help.”
“The cost of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder is high for the veteran, their families and for society as a whole,” Sheehan-Miles said. “Our country needs to do better taking care of the men and women we ask to fight in our wars.”
The Resource Guide for Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom is available for free download at http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/guide.cfm