Mental Illness Costing Military Soldiers

Posted on by

USA TODAY– The number of soldiers forced to leave the Army solely because of a mental disorder has increased by 64% from 2005 to 2009 and accounts for one in nine medical discharges, according to Army statistics.

Last year, 1,224 soldiers with a mental illness, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, received a medical discharge. That was an increase from 745 soldiers in 2005 or about 7% of medical discharges that year, according to personnel statistics provided to USA TODAY.

The trend matches other recent indicators that show a growing emotional toll on a military that has been fighting for seven years in Iraq and nine years in Afghanistan, the Army and veterans advocates say.

“These numbers really just validate the mental health communities’ concern about multiple deployments,” says Adrian Atizado, who specializes in health issues as assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans. “Mind and body are both taking a beating.”

Soldiers discharged for having both a mental and a physical disability increased 174% during the past five years from 1,397 in 2005 to 3,831 in 2009, according to the statistics.

Army Lt. Col. Rebecca Porter, an Army behavioral health official, says research shows “a clear relationship between multiple deployments and increased symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD.”

Continue reading about Mental Illness Costing Soldiers

© COPYRIGHT USA TODAY, 2010

Leave a Reply

RELATED NEWS

  • Jeremy Scahill Talks About “Dirty Wars”
  • Agitprop: How the DoD Promotes Its War
  • White Phosphorus: Dramatic Increase in Iraq Birth Defects
  • Kathyrn Bigelow Makes Bin Laden Propaganda Film
  • FOREIGN POLICY

  • Empire Files Podcast: A Russian Anti-War Perspective on Ukraine
  • Empire Files: Ukraine: Questions for the US Anti-War Movement w/ Abby Martin & Brian Becker
  • Media Roots Radio: Hollywood Gets Tough On Putin, Ukraine Scorched Earth Info War, Banning Russia
  • Media Roots Radio: RIP RT America, The End of An Era
  • Media Roots Radio: Revenge of the Kagans, DOD’s 11 Ukrainian Bio Labs, 60 Mins Targeted Individuals, Havana Reviews
  • Media Roots Radio: Fog of Cold War, Sitting Duck Op, Doomsday Clock 100 Seconds to Midnight
  • Media Roots Radio: US Can’t Quit Azov, Biden Blinked, Manifesting War & Marring Beijing 2022
  • Empire Files: Oliver Stone & Abby Martin: Down the JFK Rabbit Hole
  • Empire Files: Israel Gets Georgia to Strip Free Speech Rights (Again)
  • Media Roots Radio: Biden Wags the Dog on Ukraine, Alt-Media Race to Bottom & Cops Play Into Crime Panic w/ Yasha Levine
  • Empire Files: The War Profiteer Who Stole Christmas
  • Empire Files: Native Hawaiians Fight US Navy for Polluting Island’s Water
  • Empire Files: Navy Abandons Victims of Red Hill Fuel Leak
  • Empire Files Podcast: Interview with Red Hill Frontline Fighter: Navy Imperiling Life on O’ahu
  • Media Roots Radio: The Wheel of Winter’s Darkness & Smallpox Bioterror Scares Pt 1 of 2