Friday 12 November 2004

Living with PTSD

23% of American service personnel returning from Iraq are suffering PTSD
Think about that for a moment. We've had more than 200,000 people serving in Iraq. That means we have 46,000 veterans already who have come home to a new war, a lifelong war to retain their sanity. For each of them there will be
at least six family members and/or friends whose lives will be turned upside down by that new war. If statistics from Vietnam hold, fifteen thousand will have taken their own lives within five years, and another 4000 in the next five years.
Alcoholism and drug addiction will be common amongst them. For each of them there will be at least six family members and/or friends whose lives will be turned upside down. That brings us to a conservative 276,000 people who will be dealing with this first hand, and each of them will turn to six more people for support and help.
...don't know what else to say about PTSD except perhaps to give you a glimpse into my experience of it.

via bartcop

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