From the Huffington Post
July 29, 2009
Lloyd I. Sederer MD

Our country has been at war in Afghanistan and Iraq for over eight years. Opinions vary powerfully about our entry into these wars and our exit strategies. But we are learning to separate our feelings about recent wars from its warriors. Support for American soldiers is strong, though I have heard from military personnel that there are still moments when war returnees are vilified as soldiers, their being mistaken for war itself.

War is hard on those who serve -- marines, soldiers, air force and navy -- and their families -- ask them and they will say it is "hard". While Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is seen in 3-4% of the general population, Vietnam veterans have rates of 15%. The near to 300,000 men and women who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq on whom the Veteran's Administration has records from 2002-2006 are experiencing rates of 37%. Suicide among veterans is at the highest it has been in the almost three decades since this data has been kept; deaths from suicide among Afghan and Iraqi veterans are, remarkably, expected to exceed the combat death toll. PTSD is only the tip of problems that include depression, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, separation and divorce, especially prominent among National Guard and Reserve who are over 50% of those deployed today.

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