Reintegrate Team Update: Living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
We have conducted many interviews, watched lots of videos and read a bunch of articles on the subject of PTSD. All of our interviews were confidential and strictly for our research. We have spoken to officers, active duty soldiers, and military administrators over the course of the last four months. Here’s a little bit of what we found.
• Every soldier is exposed to trauma while in war.
• The mental health of soldiers is evaluated upon entering and exiting the service, but it’s done in the form of a single questionnaire in which soldiers are asked to self-diagnose themselves.
• Most soldiers are embarrassed to admit they have mental health needs while in battle and at home.
• When an active duty soldier returns from war and is on leave at home, the service checks up on them every three months. If a soldier has been discharged from the service, they are on their own and asked to visit their local VA if they feel they have a problem.
• There is no limit on the number of tours a soldier can serve in Iraq or Afghanistan, regardless of how much trauma they experienced while in battle.
• Most soldiers don’t show symptoms of PTSD up to one year after returning home.
• The rate of suicide among Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers are triple those who served in the Vietnam War.
• Soldiers with PTSD have higher numbers of homelessness, domestic violence, suicide, separation from spouse and deaths.
• Many soldiers return home with no income, job prospects or even a place to stay.
• Loved ones have a difficult time reconnecting with soldiers once they return. Some say their relationships are never the same again.
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