MENTAL PROBLEMS FOR RETURNING VETS

Only about a third returning from Iraq seek help. What about the rest who don’t seek help and who may need it? What happens to them? I’ve worked with returning military. In order to survive the horrors that they see, they build walls around their feelings. This hampers them in their relationships and in maneuvering in a world not at war. They often have difficulty functioning.

The accounts of more than 300,000 soldiers and Marines returning from several theaters paint an unusually detailed picture of the psychological impact of the various conflicts. Those returning from Iraq consistently reported more psychic distress than those returning from Afghanistan and other conflicts, such as those in Bosnia or Kosovo. That means the more killing they see, the worse the distress. What if we stopped war? Might we have healthier women and men?