RAW STORY– More U.S.
troops were hospitalized for mental health disorders than any other reason in
2009. Mental health hospitalizations throughout the military topped injuries,
battle wounds and even pregnancy and childbirth for the first time in 15 years
of tracking by the Pentagon’s Medical Surveillance Monthly report.
USA Today‘s Gregg Zoroya broke
the news Friday.
Mental health care accounted for almost 40% of all days spent in hospitals
by servicemembers last year, the report said. Of those hospitalizations, 5%
lasted longer than 33 days. For most other conditions, fewer than 5% of
hospitalizations exceeded 12 days, the report said.
In 2009, there were 17,538 hospitalizations for mental health issues
throughout the military, the study shows. That compares with 17,354 for
pregnancy and childbirth reasons, and 11,156 for injuries and battle wounds.
Psychological issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder exact a toll in
lost manpower, the study said. Four mental health issues — depression,
substance abuse, anxiety and adjustment problems such as PTSD — cost the Pentagon
488 years of lost duty in 2009.
“There’s no shame in my game,” Herschel Walker told a group of
soldiers from Winn Army
Hospital’s Warriors in Transition
Program in Georgia
one day earlier.
The former NFL star overcame dissociative identity disorder at Fort
Stewart’s Main Chapel and,
according to Bryan County News, appealed to those who battle
behavioral issues to seek help as he did.
“It’s inspiring for us to have Mr. Walker come,” Winn Army Community
Hospital Commander Col. Paul R. Cordts said Thursday. “He’s of course a Heisman
Trophy winner, had a huge NFL football career but he came here to speak to our
soldiers about his experiences with a behavioral health diagnosis. We recognize
that combat affects all soldiers. Some soldiers develop symptoms of post
traumatic stress disorder. We wanted Mr. Walker to come and talk about his
experience of going through treatment for his disorder as well as dispelling
some of the stigma associated with having a behavioral health disorder.”
Obviously PTSD, depression, anxiety and substance abuse are not limited to
American soldiers. According to a new U.K. Ministry of Defense study covered
Thursday by The Guardian, troops serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan
have a 22% higher risk of alcohol misuse than their fellow servicemen and
women.
Reservists serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan
were found to be three times as likely to suffer PTSD as other reservists,
while regular personnel in combat roles there were found to be twice as likely
to report the disorder.
Simon Wessely of the Institute of Psychiatry
at King’s College London thinks alcohol abuse is even more of a concern than
PTSD. “Our view is that alcohol misuse is actually a greater problem for
the armed forces than PTSD,” he said.
Continue reading about Mental Health of Returning Soldiers.
© RAW STORY, 2010
ALTERNET– Hispanic students fill nearly half the seats in Arizona’s public
school classrooms, but a new law signed by Governor Jan Brewer Tuesday
makes it illegal for these students to learn about their heritage in
school. HB 2281 prohibits schools from offering courses at any grade
level that advocate ethnic solidarity, promote overthrow of the US
government, or cater to specific ethnic groups—regulations which will
dismantle the state’s popular Mexican-American studies programs.
ALTERNET
