A new US study claims that more than 1/3 of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from forms of mental illness, including psychosocial behavior. The study, commissioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs, examined returning veterans who visited a VA Hospital between September 2001 and September 2005.

Throughout history, war veterans have suffered from various forms of stress disorders and mental illness. From World War II to the present, the topic of mental illness becomes a topic of debate every time our troops begin to return home from conflict.

These illnesses are often thought to exist only in extreme cases, but a new study suggests that a significant percentage of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from mental illness. The March 12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine featured a report titled “Bringing the War Back Home,” which studied more than 100,000 US soldiers who had served in the nation’s war on terror.

The study was conducted as a collaborative effort by the University of California, San Francisco and the VA Medical Center in San Francisco. Conducted by Dr. Karen Seal and 4 of her colleagues, the study looked at 103,788 veterans who visited VA facilities between September 30, 2001 and September 30, 2005.

The study consisted of veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Veterans of both operations had endured much combat stress and were eligible for free medical care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Little was known about the clinical circumstances of the mental health diagnosis given to these veterans, which is where the current study comes into the picture.

Of those included in the study, a total of 25,658 veterinarians (25%) were diagnosed with at least one form of mental illness. A staggering 56% of them were diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses. When the scope of the study was expanded to also include psychosocial behavior problems, the number of troops affected increased to 32,010 veterans (31%).

“The youngest group of active-duty veterans (age, 18 to 24 years) had a significantly higher risk of receiving one or more mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses compared to active-duty veterans age 40 and older.” “says the study.

The most common condition was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which occurred in 52% of troops diagnosed with a mental illness (13% of all veterans studied). PTSD occurs when someone experiences or witnesses life-threatening traumatic events over extended periods of time.

PTSD is often characterized by extreme symptoms, which can include flashbacks, insomnia, nightmares, hypervigilance, and a lack of feeling or emotion. Some veterans will also suffer from late-onset PTSD, which may not appear until years after the traumatic event. If not treated properly, the disorder can also lead to other forms of mental illness.

Although post-traumatic stress disorder was the most common illness diagnosed, others were revealed in the study. Many troops were diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Substance Use Disorder, and a host of other behavioral or psychological afflictions.

However, it should be noted that the study only consists of those who visited a VA medical facility during the prescribed period, so the numbers presented in the study may not reflect all Soldiers who served in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi freedom.