Iraq Reservists Face a 'Perfect Storm' of Post-Traumatic Stress

By Stacy Bannerman, Foreign Policy in Focus. Posted March 15, 2007.

The sole aspect of the Iraq war upon which Americans are united is the need to provide post-deployment mental health care for our soldiers. The good news is that no one wants to abandon the veterans coming back from Iraq as happened with far too many Vietnam veterans. The bad news is that we already have. Nowhere is that more apparent than within National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, who typically go from combat to cul-de-sac in 48 hours.

Active-duty troops are required to participate in post-combat mental health care sessions for the first three months of their reentry, but the Department of Defense has a 90-day "hands-off" policy pertaining to National Guard soldiers and Army reservists. After serving some of the longest tours in Iraq, they undergo a few days of out-processing, which includes a brief mental health screening. Desperate to get home, National Guard soldiers and Army reservists will say anything that will enable them to leave. When they are released -- without support or services -- they scatter across states, and generally don't report at their first post-deployment training drill for three months or more.

The separation from other soldiers creates a feeling of isolation at a time when support and connection with others who are going through the same emotional adjustments is critical.

Like most National Guard soldiers, my husband didn't receive a comprehensive mental health evaluation until eight months after he returned from a yearlong tour at the most-attacked base in Iraq. Nearly a year after his exam, in August of 2006, he was notified of the outcome: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides free healthcare services to veterans for a period of two years beginning on the date of their separation from active military service. By the time my husband was informed of his diagnosis and advised to get treatment, he had approximately six months remaining to access care. But the waiting list is long, and time is running out for him and for tens of thousands just like him.

The clock has already stopped for hundreds of National Guard soldiers and Army reservists who returned from Iraq suffering from PTSD that was either undiagnosed by the military, or the VA refused/delayed treatment. Pentagon statistics reveal that the suicide rate for U.S. troops who have served in Iraq is double what it was in peacetime.

Soldiers who have served -- or are serving -- in Iraq are killing themselves at higher percentages than in any other war where such figures have been tracked. According to a report recently released by the Defense Manpower Data Center, suicide accounted for over 25 percent of all noncombat Army deaths in Iraq in 2006. One of the reasons for "the higher suicide rate in Iraq [is] the higher percentage of reserve troops," said military analyst James F. Dunnigan.

Despite the high risk factor, many soldiers who seek treatment are not receiving urgent care. "When he went to the VA, they didn't have room to treat him that day," said the mother of Jason Cooper, an Army reservist in the Iraq war. Jason hung himself four months after coming back to Iowa. He was 23, a year older than Army reservist Josh Omvig and Marine reservist Jeffrey Lucey, who also committed suicide after the VA's failure to care. As did National Guardsmen Doug Barber, Tim Bowman, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Jerome Sloss, and far too many others who have ended their lives rather than live them with the psychological equivalent of a sucking chest wound.

A "Perfect Storm" for PTSD

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is the result of subtle biological changes in the brain chemistry as a response to severe stress, which alters the way the brain stores memories. During a particularly intense episode, the body releases massive amounts of adrenaline, and the physiological alterations associated with the intense emotional reaction create memories that disrupt normal life.

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Stacy Bannerman is the author of "When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind" (Continuum Publishing, 2006), and an analyst for Foreign Policy In Focus. She is the director of Operation Occupation and can be contacted at www.stacybannerman.com.

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