A new report carried out by researchers at the US Defense Department highlights how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects approximately nine per cent of US soldiers who have been engaged in military combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The study appears in the current edition of the British Medical Journal, and gives the most up-to-date assessment of the scale of the disorder among members of the US armed forces.

Study Assessed 50,000 US Troops for Evidence of PTSD

It followed cases of PTSD within around 50,000 US soldiers, seeing how the rate of it varied according to operational conditions. That is to say, how it could be seen in troops who had been deployed in a combat role, in those who were sent to Afghanistan/ Iraq, but who did not engage in combat, and in those who remained stationed in the US.

A percentage of troops experience the onset of PTSD having either received a war wound, or having watched comrades suffer. Frequently, it materialises months, or even years, after the event in question.

"The unpredictability and intensity of urban combat, constant risk of roadside bombs, multiple and prolonged tours, and complex problems of differentiating enemies from allies can leave many troops with high stress levels and possible lasting health consequences", said the report’s authors.

PTSD Felt by 8.7% of US Iraqi/ Afghan War Veterans Assessed

The US soldiers who took part in the assessment were questioned over two separate periods – initially, between 2001 and 2003 (pre-deployment), and then again between 2004 and 2006.

From this, it was discovered that 8.7 per cent of the troops who had been deployed to serve in either Afghanistan or Iraq, and who had not previously suffered from PTSD, said they had either felt its effects, or that a medical diagnosis had confirmed its presence. By way of comparison, the amount of new PTSD cases within the non-combatant deployed troops was 2.1 per cent, and three per cent within those who stayed in the country.

The lead researcher involved was Tyler Smith, who works for the Department of Defense Center for Deployment Health Research at the San Diego-based Naval Health Research Center.

Symptoms of PTSD Include Anger, Insomnia, Overreaction

According to experts, among the symptoms of PTSD are angry outbursts, a degree of insomnia, problems with concentration, guardedness and a tendency to react strongly when startled.

The Institute of Medicine – which provides medical council to US lawmakers – has highlighted separate findings which suggest that PTSD has been evident in around 12.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts respectively.

Source – Armed Forces International’s US Correspondent

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