The Cost of Combat Stress: A Billion A Year

[jillian]

In a war, death comes in many forms: jury-rigged bombs, sleek fighter jets, assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades. But a stealthier killer lingers long after the fighting is done, in the psychological toll that combat exacts. More than 6,000 veterans take their own lives every year — about 20 percent of the 30,000 American suicides annually.

In an effort to quantify the psychological cost of war, a recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research has come up with the magic numbers. They estimate that lower-bound costs of mental health problems from the global war on terror are between $750 million and $1.35 billion annually.

Despite trying everything from portable weatherproof brain scanners to drug treatments with ecstasy and MDMA, service members are still suffering with post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues.

In fact, 26 percent of returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are depressed, drug and alcohol-dependent, homeless or suicidal, says the NBER report. This quoted number was independently calculated in a study done by the Rand Corporation, a non-profit policy and research think tank.

more at link:

The Cost of Combat Stress: a Billion Dollars a Year | Danger Room | Wired.com

 

[High_Gravity]

I have been to the VA Hospital and Mental Health is always jam packed, alot of the times these people are only getting pills thrown at them and very little else.

 

[midcan5]

Military life can be stressful in many ways, in a certain sense, I wish they brought back the draft, so duty was shared, but then I think how it hurt so many.

"He hauled out an opaque plastic box, about the size of a suitcase. “I’ll send for it later,” he said, “but I know you’ll keep it safe.”

Sure, Andy, I said. I’ll keep it safe.

Later that night I lay awake and wondered: What on Earth is in that box?"

What the War Did to Andy | Men’s Journal

 

[jillian]

I have been to the VA Hospital and Mental Health is always jam packed, alot of the times these people are only getting pills thrown at them and very little else.

There are also huge waits for people to get treatment for PTSD.

 

[High_Gravity]

I have been to the VA Hospital and Mental Health is always jam packed, alot of the times these people are only getting pills thrown at them and very little else.

There are also huge waits for people to get treatment for PTSD.

Yes but their quick with the pills though, I got sleeping pills the same day I went in there.