Iraq war veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder

Thomas Insel is worried. He's the nation's top mental health official and he believes "the suicides and psychiatric mortality of this war could trump the combat deaths.'' In other words, in the coming years, more soldiers could die from mental health problems at home than died in combat.

According to a report by the RAND corporation, 300 thousand of the 1.5 million troops – one out of five – who served in Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from depression or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Veterans with PTSD have a hard time sleeping, feel disconnected from reality and their loved ones, and can have terrifying flashbacks. For some, it leads to breakdowns and even suicide.

While PTSD can be treated, experts warn not enough veterans are being treated. Some government officials and veteran advocacy groups warn that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) does not have enough resources – money, doctors, and hospitals – to take on this growing mental health crisis. A lawsuit filed against the VA by attorney Arturo Gonzalez on behalf of two veterans' rights groups alleges that the military is aware of the problem and attempted to hide it. Internal VA e-mails revealed that an estimated 1,000 veterans (including WWII and Vietnam) attempt suicide every month.

The VA counters it has increased its mental health budget (from $3.2 to $3.5 billion) and recently hired nearly four thousand specialists to deal with PTSD and related illnesses. Senior military official Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acknowledged the severity of PTSD: "It's way past time, some seven years into this war, that we recognize the toll it's taking inside our minds, as well as outside our bodies."