An issue I have been writing about for years has finally hit center stage in the media in the past week with a TIME cover and numerous TV and newspaper reports. I am referring, of course, to the disturbing rate of PTSD among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the surging suicide epidemic and new revelations about the high number of soldiers on meds, principally anti-depressants, fully 12% according to an oft-cited new survey.
Of course, all of this is tied to multiple deployments in Iraq -- and the whole war there itself, naturally.
Rather than go over this all again (see past diaries), let me instead just report on what my friend -- and fellow Huff Post blogger -- Paul Rieckhoff said on CBS News this morning.
Rieckhoff, as you may know, is executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Here are some of his quotes from a chat with CBS Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith this morning.
--"This high rate of the use of anti-depressants and sleeping pills is really just a symptom of a deeper problem. We're sending folks back over and over again in a tremendously stressful environment, and it's taking its toll. The anti-depressants and sleeping pills are one way that the military and the individuals are trying to meet that threat."
-- "What we need to look at is how to reduce the overall stress. And that starts with reducing the deployments. They only get about a year home, if that, doing a 12-to-16 month tour. We know that about half-a-million folks have been to Iraq more than once. So, they're going back over and over again. That's why we're seeing the (high) suicide rate in the Army. One-hundred-fifteen folks in the Army committed suicide last year. That's the highest rate since 1980. So, we've gotta look at those other factors that are causing the stress, in addition to the violence, in addition to the family stress and all of that other stuff that piles up on the troops."
" Simple supply and demand. We continue to increase the demand on our troops, but we haven't increased the overall number of troops dramatically. There was an Army Ranger who was recently killed on his eighth tour.
"Folks coming home are at risk -- about one-in-five are gonna come home with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression. There was a big study from the Rand Institute a few weeks ago that confirmed those numbers.
"And we need more support services, both when they're in the military and, especially, when they come home.
"It's hard to get to a doctor when you're in a war zone. With the recent surge, we increased the number of troops by about 30,000, but we didn't increase the number of mental health care workers. We've got to increase the number of folks in the field; we've got to get them to a doctor more often. It's really hard to get your prescription checked when you've gotta go across the country or across your sector in a very dangerous environment, with the roadside bombs. It's a very dangerous recipe."
-- "They've got to have follow-up. The V.A. (Veterans Administration) has a long wait time right now. Hundreds of thousands of claims are backed up. The average wait time is about 183 days to process a claim. We've got to do a better job at the V.A., when they come home, as well, because that's when most folks are gonna show that they have a mental health problem and seek out the treatment."
-- "We're continuing to send folks over and over again. This is one way for the Army to keep people in the fight. We know recruiting numbers are stressed, retention numbers are stressed, and this is one way for ... the Pentagon to keep people on the front lines. But there is a long-term cost to the military and for the individuals.
"This week, in the House and Senate, we'll be fighting for a new G.I. Bill. That's a critical way to take care of these folks when they come home as well, and we've got to pay up and take care of our veterans when they come home."
Greg Mitchell's new book, which contains severals chapters on vet suicides, is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq. He is editor of Editor & Publisher.