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March 14, 2007
SouthAmerica: As usual the United States mainstream media is not doing its job, and many years from now they are going to debate âwhy the US mainstream media never made a big deal about the number of subsequent suicides among its veterans after they returned from a war such as the Vietnam War.â
It is âPATHETIC.â
The impact of war on American soldiers and their families are much greater than the American press ever mention to the American people, and Vietnam is a major example of that failure of information.
The U.S. Defense Department it does not like to put the spotlight into the fact that even though only 58,209 American soldiers died during the Vietnam War, since the troops returned home in 1973 an additional 200,000 American Vietnam veterans become subsequent casualties of the Vietnam War when they committed suicide, and today half of the homeless people around the United States are Vietnam War veterans.
It is disgusting, and a disgrace, but it is no surprise that the US mainstream media is not doing its job as usual. The United States mainstream media never mention to the American public the number of Vietnam veterans who committed suicide since the end of that war, and it is well documented that the number of post war Vietnam veteran suicides is almost four times the number of soldiers who died during the actual war.
The US government knows how to use the patriotism card plus the flag waving to get people to fight on behalf of its army, but when these poor people become wounded as a result of war, then the US government deals with these soldiers as if they were just disposable human beings that the US government has no further use for them.
Since the Iraq war started 4 years ago, I have seen on various television programs, including CNN News, case after case of US government mistreatment of American soldiers and their families.
Since the Vietnam War the way the US government treats its wounded veterans in the years following their return home from the battlefield â there is only one way that we can express it in the English language - it in a nutshell: âItâs a disgraceâ
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âCasualty of War: Mental Healthâ
By CLAUDIA WALLIS
TIME Magazine
Monday, Mar. 12, 2007
While many news reports have focused on the high rates of devastating physical injuries among soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a new study, released today, measures another form of casualty: mental illness.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was conducted by Dr. Karen Seal and colleagues at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. According to their analysis, about one third of the 103,788 returning veterans seen at V.A. facilities between Sept. 30, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2005 were diagnosed with mental illness or a psycho-social disorder â such as homelessness and marital problems, including domestic violence.
Over half â 56% â were suffering from more than one disorder. The median was three disorders, says Dr. Seal: "So instead of treating just post-traumatic stress disorder, you're treating PTSD, depression and substance abuse." The most common combination, she says, was PTSD and depression. "That's understandable," says Seal, because soldiers face horrifying events in combat that lead to PTSD while experiencing "a lot of loss and separation that leads to depression."
Post-traumatic stress disorder affected 13% of veterans in the study. That number is consistent with figures from other conflicts, including Vietnam. But Seal is concerned that the numbers on PTSD and other mental disorders have been rising since the study was completed. "We just did a quick peek at more recent data and the numbers have gone up. They may surpass the numbers from Vietnam." She and her fellow authors attribute the prevalence of mental problems to the stress of guerrilla warfare, the chronic threat of roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices and multiple tours of duty. "A lot of veterans feel they were on the front lines even if they were a cook or a driver," says Seal.
The group with the highest rate of mental problems, according to the study, are those between 18 and 24. Young active-duty soldiers were three times as likely as those over 40 to be diagnosed with PTSD and/or another mental health disorder.
Seal notes that the V.A. has been putting more mental health professionals into primary care facilities, since vets historically have resisted going to mental health clinics. Research suggests that getting them help earlier can prevent PTSD and other problems from becoming chronic.
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March 14, 2007
SouthAmerica: As usual the United States mainstream media is not doing its job, and many years from now they are going to debate âwhy the US mainstream media never made a big deal about the number of subsequent suicides among its veterans after they returned from a war such as the Vietnam War.â
It is âPATHETIC.â
The impact of war on American soldiers and their families are much greater than the American press ever mention to the American people, and Vietnam is a major example of that failure of information.
The U.S. Defense Department it does not like to put the spotlight into the fact that even though only 58,209 American soldiers died during the Vietnam War, since the troops returned home in 1973 an additional 200,000 American Vietnam veterans become subsequent casualties of the Vietnam War when they committed suicide, and today half of the homeless people around the United States are Vietnam War veterans.
It is disgusting, and a disgrace, but it is no surprise that the US mainstream media is not doing its job as usual. The United States mainstream media never mention to the American public the number of Vietnam veterans who committed suicide since the end of that war, and it is well documented that the number of post war Vietnam veteran suicides is almost four times the number of soldiers who died during the actual war.
The US government knows how to use the patriotism card plus the flag waving to get people to fight on behalf of its army, but when these poor people become wounded as a result of war, then the US government deals with these soldiers as if they were just disposable human beings that the US government has no further use for them.
Since the Iraq war started 4 years ago, I have seen on various television programs, including CNN News, case after case of US government mistreatment of American soldiers and their families.
Since the Vietnam War the way the US government treats its wounded veterans in the years following their return home from the battlefield â there is only one way that we can express it in the English language - it in a nutshell: âItâs a disgraceâ
***************
âCasualty of War: Mental Healthâ
By CLAUDIA WALLIS
TIME Magazine
Monday, Mar. 12, 2007
While many news reports have focused on the high rates of devastating physical injuries among soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a new study, released today, measures another form of casualty: mental illness.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was conducted by Dr. Karen Seal and colleagues at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. According to their analysis, about one third of the 103,788 returning veterans seen at V.A. facilities between Sept. 30, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2005 were diagnosed with mental illness or a psycho-social disorder â such as homelessness and marital problems, including domestic violence.
Over half â 56% â were suffering from more than one disorder. The median was three disorders, says Dr. Seal: "So instead of treating just post-traumatic stress disorder, you're treating PTSD, depression and substance abuse." The most common combination, she says, was PTSD and depression. "That's understandable," says Seal, because soldiers face horrifying events in combat that lead to PTSD while experiencing "a lot of loss and separation that leads to depression."
Post-traumatic stress disorder affected 13% of veterans in the study. That number is consistent with figures from other conflicts, including Vietnam. But Seal is concerned that the numbers on PTSD and other mental disorders have been rising since the study was completed. "We just did a quick peek at more recent data and the numbers have gone up. They may surpass the numbers from Vietnam." She and her fellow authors attribute the prevalence of mental problems to the stress of guerrilla warfare, the chronic threat of roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices and multiple tours of duty. "A lot of veterans feel they were on the front lines even if they were a cook or a driver," says Seal.
The group with the highest rate of mental problems, according to the study, are those between 18 and 24. Young active-duty soldiers were three times as likely as those over 40 to be diagnosed with PTSD and/or another mental health disorder.
Seal notes that the V.A. has been putting more mental health professionals into primary care facilities, since vets historically have resisted going to mental health clinics. Research suggests that getting them help earlier can prevent PTSD and other problems from becoming chronic.
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