Almost 40 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans receiving health care from VA hospitals have one or more mental disorders.
A new study, published in the July 16 online edition of the American Journal of Public Health, reported this and other shocking news about the mental health of our veterans of the Middle East wars.
The study’s principal author, Dr. Karen H. Seal, an assistant professor of medicine and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, had even more distressing news. She said:
When the definition is expanded to include diagnoses of mental health disorders or psychosocial behavioral problems such as homelessness, or both, 43 percent of these veterans received these diagnoses.
If previous history with Vietnam-era veterans is any guide, the burden of mental illness will follow these veterans for many years to come. The research reported on in this post seems to back this idea up.
The findings of the study and its implications are detailed under the following headings:
- How the study was conducted?
- What were the findings of the study?
- The incidence of mental illness among veterans is accelerating
- It can take years for Anxiety Disorders such as PTSD to develop
- What are the implications of the study?
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Tagged as:
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
Veterans
by Mike Nichols on August 13, 2008 · 1 comment
What is daydreaming? What is escapism? And are these symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
These are questions set for me by Spark, one of the readers of this blog.
The words “escapism” and “daydreaming” have strong moral overtones, especially “escapism.” Our society, based on Puritanism, frowns on all things that can’t be termed “productive.” To waste time in escapism and daydreaming are looked down upon as “lazy” or “sinful,” whether the terms are used in a secular or religious sense.
What exactly is escapism? Is it always a bad thing? And similarly, daydreaming: Is it mere escapism? Does it provide something useful to humans? Is it laziness? What is the nature of the flashbacks experienced with PTSD? Are they a type of daydreaming, or just escapism?
These are the important issues explored in this post.
This is the first post of a series in which I answer readers’ questions. If you would like to ask a question, please feel free to leave your question in a comment or use the Contact tab to email me. I answer all questions, whether or not you agree to have it be the subject of a post. If you do agree, you will not be identified by name.
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Tagged as:
Daydreams,
Escapism,
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
It has been estimated that 21 percent of adults in the United States (about 45 million people) currently smoke. It has also been found that individuals who have Anxiety Disorder may be particularly likely to smoke. Out of all Anxiety Disorders, individuals with Panic Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder show the highest rate of smoking.
Smokers are twice as likely to suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as non-smokers, according to a recent study of male twin soldiers. The researchers also found that people exposed to trauma, whether or not they developed PTSD, were more likely to take up smoking.
About one-third of people go on to suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after experiencing severe trauma, according to estimates. PTSD is a mental illness characterized by Anxiety, flashbacks and panic attacks.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Anxiety Disorder,
Panic Disorder,
PTSD,
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
smoking
