Friday, November 27, 2009

Survey shows big increase in PTSD in U.S. veterans

Levels of mental-health problems among former U.S. servicemen have increased dramatically since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Researchers from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of California, San Francisco found that rates of post-traumatic stress disorder had increased by 4-7x and that one in three veterans enrolled in the veterans' health system has been diagnosed with a mental-health disorder. However, veterans are still reluctant to seek help with only 4 out of 10 people experiencing symptoms seeking help from a therapist or other mental-health professional. Reasons given for not seeking help included: worry about what others might think, fear of hurting one's career and concern that seeking help is a sign of weakness. The most common diagnoses were PTSD (22%) and depression (17%).

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172232.php

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