thedrifter
06-23-07, 10:56 AM
Experts: Repeat tours threaten mental health
By Robert Weller - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2007 22:48:51 EDT
DENVER — With troops facing extended combat tours without relief that are unprecedented in U.S. history, experts say even the expanded health care proposed by the Army will not prevent significant numbers of soldiers from suffering life-changing mental disorders.
If anything it may get worse. Deployments have already been extended from 12 months to 15 months, and the Army says it is considering extending them even more to keep maintain the present buildup of troops in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday that was “a worst-case scenario.”
A Defense Department-appointed task force that visited posts and bases for a year and reviewed data supplied by the services recommended last week that soldiers get one month of in-theater R&R for every three months on the line. The Army rejected the proposal, saying instead it might consider two to three days in a secure location for every eight days in a high-combat zone.
“Although it has long been recognized that mental health breakdown occurs after prolonged combat exposure, a considerable number of soldiers and Marines are conducting combat operations every day of the week, 10-12 hours per day, seven days a week for months on end,” said a separate Army report released last month — the fourth review of the mental health of troops in Iraq conducted by the Army surgeon general’s office.
“At no time in our military history have soldiers or Marines been required to serve on the front line in any war for a period of 6-7 months, let alone a year, without a significant break in order to recover from the physical, psychological and emotional demands that ensue from combat,” the report said.
It noted that entire units were pulled from the front line during World War II for months at a time. Vietnam soldiers got several days of rest following weeklong combat patrols.
In those earlier major conflicts commanders had the benefit of a draft, which guaranteed replacements for those who had spent considerable time in combat.
A survey of 1,320 soldiers and 447 Marines between Aug. 28 and Oct. 6 of last year showed that only 5 percent received rest breaks while in Iraq, the Army report said.
Several experts say no matter how much preparation soldiers get before they go or how much treatment they receive after they return, some will suffer life-changing mental damage if they are repeatedly exposed to high levels of violence.
“[Preparation] helps. It is better than just giving someone a gun and sending them in there. No matter what you do you are always going to have problems,” said Dr. Doug Bremner, professor of psychiatry and radiology and director of the Emory University Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit. He has done research on PTSD for the Veterans Administration.
The Army report released last month included a survey that found that 12 percent of soldiers in Iraq were taking medications for a mental health or sleep problem.
Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that one out of every three U.S. soldiers returning from active duty in Iraq needs mental health treatment. A Fort Carson, Colo., report said one in five soldiers deployed to Iraq from the post had suffered at least minor brain damage.
In contrast, a study published last year in the journal Science estimated that nearly 19 percent of Vietnam veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bremner noted that Vietnam veterans did not face the extensive use of improvised explosive devices that has caused thousands of brain injuries in Iraq and made diagnosing a soldier’s problems much more difficult.
Vice Adm. Donald Arthur, the Navy surgeon general and co-chair of a task force that released a separate report last week based on a yearlong study, conceded that treatment will not work for all. “For a small percentage of the population who react to stress in different ways than the rest of us do, this may manifest and change their lives forever,” he told the Army Times.
Arthur’s task force made the recommendation that soldiers get one month of R&R in theater for every three months on the line.
A recommendation for longer periods between deployments is still being considered. Currently, soldiers get at least 12 months between deployments.
Dr. Laurie Leitch, a psychotherapist and research director for the Boulder, Colo.-based Foundation for Human Enrichment, said some will be harmed forever because soldiers cannot withstand extended periods of being in danger of losing their lives. “We can’t digest ongoing, consistent trauma,” said Leitch, whose foundation is studying soldiers’ mental health issues.
The Army is requesting 35,000 more troops, said spokesman John P. Boyce, which would give it a bigger pool to draw from for Iraq deployments. There are now 156,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Col. Carl Castro, chief of military psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, said it is a mistake to assume that soldiers deployed two or even three times to Iraq will necessarily be sent to high-combat areas. “They certainly are more at risk,” he conceded.
Ellie
By Robert Weller - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2007 22:48:51 EDT
DENVER — With troops facing extended combat tours without relief that are unprecedented in U.S. history, experts say even the expanded health care proposed by the Army will not prevent significant numbers of soldiers from suffering life-changing mental disorders.
If anything it may get worse. Deployments have already been extended from 12 months to 15 months, and the Army says it is considering extending them even more to keep maintain the present buildup of troops in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday that was “a worst-case scenario.”
A Defense Department-appointed task force that visited posts and bases for a year and reviewed data supplied by the services recommended last week that soldiers get one month of in-theater R&R for every three months on the line. The Army rejected the proposal, saying instead it might consider two to three days in a secure location for every eight days in a high-combat zone.
“Although it has long been recognized that mental health breakdown occurs after prolonged combat exposure, a considerable number of soldiers and Marines are conducting combat operations every day of the week, 10-12 hours per day, seven days a week for months on end,” said a separate Army report released last month — the fourth review of the mental health of troops in Iraq conducted by the Army surgeon general’s office.
“At no time in our military history have soldiers or Marines been required to serve on the front line in any war for a period of 6-7 months, let alone a year, without a significant break in order to recover from the physical, psychological and emotional demands that ensue from combat,” the report said.
It noted that entire units were pulled from the front line during World War II for months at a time. Vietnam soldiers got several days of rest following weeklong combat patrols.
In those earlier major conflicts commanders had the benefit of a draft, which guaranteed replacements for those who had spent considerable time in combat.
A survey of 1,320 soldiers and 447 Marines between Aug. 28 and Oct. 6 of last year showed that only 5 percent received rest breaks while in Iraq, the Army report said.
Several experts say no matter how much preparation soldiers get before they go or how much treatment they receive after they return, some will suffer life-changing mental damage if they are repeatedly exposed to high levels of violence.
“[Preparation] helps. It is better than just giving someone a gun and sending them in there. No matter what you do you are always going to have problems,” said Dr. Doug Bremner, professor of psychiatry and radiology and director of the Emory University Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit. He has done research on PTSD for the Veterans Administration.
The Army report released last month included a survey that found that 12 percent of soldiers in Iraq were taking medications for a mental health or sleep problem.
Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that one out of every three U.S. soldiers returning from active duty in Iraq needs mental health treatment. A Fort Carson, Colo., report said one in five soldiers deployed to Iraq from the post had suffered at least minor brain damage.
In contrast, a study published last year in the journal Science estimated that nearly 19 percent of Vietnam veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bremner noted that Vietnam veterans did not face the extensive use of improvised explosive devices that has caused thousands of brain injuries in Iraq and made diagnosing a soldier’s problems much more difficult.
Vice Adm. Donald Arthur, the Navy surgeon general and co-chair of a task force that released a separate report last week based on a yearlong study, conceded that treatment will not work for all. “For a small percentage of the population who react to stress in different ways than the rest of us do, this may manifest and change their lives forever,” he told the Army Times.
Arthur’s task force made the recommendation that soldiers get one month of R&R in theater for every three months on the line.
A recommendation for longer periods between deployments is still being considered. Currently, soldiers get at least 12 months between deployments.
Dr. Laurie Leitch, a psychotherapist and research director for the Boulder, Colo.-based Foundation for Human Enrichment, said some will be harmed forever because soldiers cannot withstand extended periods of being in danger of losing their lives. “We can’t digest ongoing, consistent trauma,” said Leitch, whose foundation is studying soldiers’ mental health issues.
The Army is requesting 35,000 more troops, said spokesman John P. Boyce, which would give it a bigger pool to draw from for Iraq deployments. There are now 156,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Col. Carl Castro, chief of military psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, said it is a mistake to assume that soldiers deployed two or even three times to Iraq will necessarily be sent to high-combat areas. “They certainly are more at risk,” he conceded.
Ellie