PTSD in Iraq

Well not exactly in Iraq. In the troops returning from Iraq.

I was listening to NPR this morning (keeping an eye on enemy propaganda) and heard a report on PTSD and other mental problems in troops returning from Iraq. The news is grim. It affects 17%. Which is quite close to my estimate that 20% of the population is subject to long term PTSD problems.

The Army is doing something about it. At least as much as they can given their attitudes towards the usual remedies that people try (alcohol, pot, cocaine, etc.). In time the science of genetics will come to the rescue. First with diagnostics. And later with cures or at least the acknowledgment that drugs can help.

What the Army is doing is providing counseling on a veteran's return and at between three and six months of return. They also have a study of PTSD going on that may provide in time some answers. Serious studies by the Israeli Army have been going on for quite a bit longer.

I think we will at last get to the bottom of one of the greatest scourges of war. The scars of the mind.