http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2008/07/25/opinion/doc488a24e13042b833358911.txtTo the Editor,
A disturbing trend has been building among veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Suicide and attemted suicide rates among active duty, National Guard and reservists have been doubling every year since our occupations began.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, one in five of the more than 1.6 million troops deployed are at risk for PTSD severe enough to warrant treatment. The Veteran’s Administration has a 65,000 patient backlog for review of disability.
Anecdotally, I have talked with many other mothers of OIF and OEF veterans. They all report the same thing — “he can’t hug us,” “he can’t sleep,” “he drinks too much,” “he’s always on guard” and “he can’t get/keep a job.”
Our current administration has been eerily quiet on this tragedy. Of the presidential candidates, only Barack Obama has addressed this. On June 30, he stated, “We are more than five years into this war and the Pentagon and VA are still unprepared to treat the unseen wounds of battle. We know that incidence of psychological injury increase with each additional tour of duty in Iraq, and that our troops are not getting the support they need.
“Too many are falling through the cracks because they need help but feel they can’t get it. When I am president, we’ll hire more mental health professionals, increase training to recognize the signs and to reject the stigma of seeking care, and enhance mental health screening and treatment from enlistment, to deployment, to reentry into civilian life. It’s time to serve our troops as well as they have served us.”
I couldn’t have put it better, senator.
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