Increase of Psychological Disorders in Soldiers Following War in the Middle East

Soldiers see many terrible things while at war. Military personnel returning from the Middle East describe seeing the destruction of homes and dead bodies. These soldiers also describe being ambushed or attacked, engaging in firefights, and knowing that they were responsible for the death of an enemy combatant. In 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan. Two years later, the United States invaded Iraq. Thousands of soldiers were exposed to hostile environments during these two operations. A hostile environment produces combat stress, which can lead to many psychological disorders, including PTSD and depression. Whether these invasions were justifiable is totally subjective and up to a person’s individual beliefs. However, one thing is for certain -- in recent years there has been an in increase in American troops being diagnosed with psychological disorders.

Soldiers returning from war are not always wounded in ways that an outside viewer can see. Sometimes these soldiers suffer from physiological, psycho-neurological, socio-emotional, biological and/or spiritual wounds, described by psychologists as “traumas” (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 1). When a solider is exposed to a trauma that is greater than the soldier’s ability to cope or other emotional resources -- like combat -- the trauma often results in post-combat psychological disorders (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 1). These disorders may manifest as anxiety, depression or possibly other psychosomatic injuries (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 1). The combination of these conditions is “post-traumatic stress disorder” (commonly referred to as PTSD) (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 1). PTSD trauma is different than physical trauma, because physical wounds are often quicker to heal in patients (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 3). To the contrary, PTSD traumas are stored by the brain as vivid memories and remain an on-going source of stress for the solider (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 3). This makes the trauma not only a continual reminder of a past that the solider would like to forget, but the trauma continues to create new stress for the solider in the present (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 3). But memories are only one trauma that creates issues for soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. There are many different issues giving rise to PTSD in soldiers returning from war in the Middle East.

One issue unique to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was the length of time that the soldiers were deployed overseas. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq were the longest since periods of deployment since the war in Vietnam (“PTSD”, 2007). These wars kept the soldiers in the Middle East for an unprecedented amount of time. The length of time that these soldiers were away also created issues for them at both at home and at work (“”PTSD”, 2007). For example, one study found that more than 90 percent of soldiers (including National Guard and Reserve troops) had problems getting paid by the military for their service while in the Middle East (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 34). The National Guard and Reserve troops also had especially unique challenges, because these troops are customarily deployed for much shorter periods of time and could never had anticipated being gone for so long (“PTSD”, 2007). The issues both at home and abroad exacerbated the amount of stress the felt by these soldiers.

Another factor that was particularly unique to the war in the Middle East was the “severe combat exposure” experienced by the soldiers in the region (“PTSD”, 2007). The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were marked by the use of improvised explosive devices (commonly referred to as IED’s) (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 21). It was common to hear many soldiers describe their friends and fellow soldiers as “being blown up right in front of them” (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 21). Another solider describes how, while on patrol during his first two weeks in combat, his radio man was shot through the head with a bullet that he thought was actually meant for him (Paulson & Krippner, 2007, p. 93). A staggering 95% of Army soldiers reported seeing dead bodies while in Iraq, while an average of 91% reported being shot at, or otherwise attacked/ambushed (“PTSD”, 2007). Unfortunately, such a large number of soldiers cannot be fired upon and not injured. This presents another stress factor for soldiers returning from war – coping with their injuries.

Researchers have found a direct correlation between the incidence of PTSD and physical injury in soldiers. According to Grieger, et al., a total of 7,609 U.S. soldiers were injured between March 2003 and September 2004 in the Middle East (p. 1778). The researchers conducted a study of the first 613 of these soldiers who were admitted for treatment to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Grieger, et al., 2006, p. 1778). All of the soldiers studied had life-threatening or seriously disfiguring injuries and suffered from traumatic brain injury and other wounds that would have killed them without the advancements of modern medicine (Grieger, et al., 2006, p. 1778). Although these patients lived, the study found that these physical injuries “were significantly predictive of PTSD (odds ratio=9.1) and depression at 7 months (odds ratio=5.7)” (Grieger, et al., 2006, p. 1782). The study also found that the likelihood of mental health problems for these soldiers increased over time (Grieger, et al., 2006, p. 1777). Another study found that nearly one-third of returning service members reported symptoms of a psychological disorder (Hosek, n.d., p. 20). It is shameful that these soldiers must not only cope with the physical challenges as a result of their military service, but they must also cope with the lingering mental ones.

Another and final contributing factor to the occurrence of PTSD in veterans is the quality of the homecoming experience for these soldiers. Many soldiers experience fear worry and anxiety regarding their return back home (Cantrell & Dean, 2005, p. 127). Researchers Cantrell & Dean (2005) found that a significant number of these soldiers had used their time during deployment to develop ideas and create plans for the future upon their return back home (p. 126). The reality, however, was often far different than the one those service members had created in their heads. Some soliders reported difficulties reintegrating with their families, particularly bonding with older children who described having to “get to know their parent again” (Hosek, n.d., p. 43). Soldiers must also reintegrate with their spouse and repair any relationship issues created as a result of the deployment. Many spouses complained about emotional, household and child-related issues because of the lengthy absence of the solider from the family unit (Hosek, n.d., p. 35). The mental health of the soldier depends on how well, and how quickly, these issues were resolved, particularly when there is a difference in opinion as to the severity of the problem in the first place (Hosek, n.d., p. 35-36). To avoid disappointment, service men and women are counseled on viewing homecoming as a step-by-step process, and not simply a one-time event (Cantrell & Dean, 2005, p. 127). However, many soldiers ignore this advice, which can lead to depression and other emotional issues. Reconstructing their life at home appears to be just one more emotional issue that the service members have to deal with after the war.

It is reported that troops who served in Afghanistan are more likely to report mental health problems than soldiers from other wars. Even worse, troops who served in Afghanistan are the most likely to experience some sort of mental health problem as a result of their experiences overseas. There are multiple factors that can be traced directly back to combat duty in the Middle East that increase the likelihood of our veterans to suffer a psychological disorder associated with that service. What is now important is that following that diagnosis, our military men and women receive the proper care and treatment for their diseases.

References

“PTSD: National Center for PTSD.” Mental Health Effects of Serving in Afghanistan and Iraq -. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 1 Jan. 2007. <http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/overview-mental-health-effects.asp>.

Cantrell, Bridget C., and Chuck Dean. Down range: to Iraq and back. Seattle, WA: WordSmith Publishing, 2005.

Grieger, T. A., S. J. Cozza, R. J. Ursano, C. Hoge, P. E. Martinez, C. C. Engel, and H. J. Wain. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Depression In Battle-Injured Soldiers." American Journal of Psychiatry 163.10 (2006): 1777-1783.

Hosek, James. "How is Deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan Affecting U.S. Service Members and Their Families." Rand National Defense Research Institute. Office of the Secretary of Defense, n.d. http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/occasional_papers/2011/RAND_OP316.pdf.

Paulson, Daryl S., and Stanley Krippner. Haunted by combat: Understanding PTSD in war veterans including women, reservists, and those coming back from Iraq. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2007.