WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- About 35 percent of Iraq war veterans have sought mental health services after returning from the war, according to the American Medical Association.
About 12 percent of Iraq veterans have been diagnosed with a mental health problem like post traumatic stress disorder, the Journal of the AMA reported Wednesday.
The military conducts post deployment health assessments of returning veterans, including screening for mental health problems. Those assessments showed Iraq veterans suffer more mentally than Afghan war veterans and other locations. Nineteen percent of Iraq veterans are assessed as having mental health problems, compared to 11.3 percent of Afghan war vets, and 8.5 percent of those returning from other locations.
The assessments are carried out to identify mental health problems quickly, allowing for treatment as soon as possible. However, the report says that just 10 percent of those receiving treatment were referred from the assessment. The remainder sought care on their own or were referred through other means.
Combat has a high correlation with mental health problems and attrition from the military, the Journal concluded.
The study analyzed data from routine post-deployment health assessments conducted on troops between May 1, 2003, and April 30, 2004. The study comprised 222,620 Iraq war veterans, 16,318 Afghan war veterans and 64,967 troops from other deployments.
