Troops Stressed To Breaking Point -- Washington Times
Report cites sustained combat, redeployments.
A recent Army health report draws an alarming profile of a fighting force more prone to inexcusable violence amid an “epidemic” of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the mental breakdown attracting speculation as a factor in a massacre of Afghan civilians this month.
Based on an exhaustive study of nearly 500,000 soldiers, reservists and veterans, the report finds that troops are more likely to commit suicide and violent sex offenses, and notes that as many as 236,000 suffered from PTSD since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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My Comment: I know exactly what they mean when they say that sustain combat has a profound impact on the mental health of soldiers. My father served for 4 years on the Russian front in the Second World War .... and I can honestly say that it was only when he retired and started to enjoy life in his early seventies .... (50+ years) after the war .... that he started to forget about the war. My Godfather was not so lucky ... he committed suicide 17 years after the war .... he could never reconcile with what he had experienced in the conflict.
Bottom line .... it will be years before most of our veterans who experienced sustain combat are able to recover from it .... and some .... unfortunately .... will not. But by recognizing this problem we are taking a big step in helping our veterans .... because believe me .... they will need it.
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