PTSD and Murder Among Newest Veterans

This weekend, while the 24-hour primary coverage raged on, the New York Times published a very well researched and stunning report on the number of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans involved in killings, here in America. They found at least 121 cases, now, where a veteran was charged with involvement in a homicide.

The trend of our newest veterans being involved in killings on the homefront can be largely attributed to four letters -- PTSD. Our failure to properly screen for and treat this mental injury is the source of so many problems our newest veterans face -- from drug and alcohol abuse, to homelessness, to joblessness, to spousal abuse, to suicide, and now, to murders.

We have got to get serious about this issue, and do three key things:

• First, we must make it a requirement for troops and veterans to get periodic mental evaluation -- and we must appropriate the money to ensure there are enough qualified counselors to do so. If a veteran lives too far to get an evaluation from a VA center, we should allow them to see a board-certified mental health professional, and reimburse the cost. The military and VA must get serious about these screenings, the same as they have for HIV. Every member of the military must constantly be tested for these diseases, period. Mental health screenings should also become a part of the culture of the military. Period.

• Second, we must do away with all the red tape and hurdles a veteran must go through to "prove" they have PTSD, when they take it upon themselves to seek help. Far too many veterans are denied a "full PTSD" diagnosis because the cost of providing them with full disability is too much for the VA budget to handle. We need to scrap the entire process, and no longer put the burden on the veteran to 'prove' they have PTSD.

• Third, we must rigorously screen all returning troops for mental strain -- not ask them to fill out a simple questionnaire.

Until we tackle this serious issue, and treat it like the serious injury it is, we will continue to see these disturbing trends -- many of which also applied to the Vietnam veterans. Time is of the essence, now. The question is, will we leave a new generation of veterans behind?

Follow Jon Soltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonsoltz

Comments

[LiberalLo]

And these murders have taken place mainly before the Pentagon LOWERED the standards of who can serve. Just imagine what will happen when the criminals who are now allowed to enlist return home and can't find a way to vent their frustrations.

[Boobaloo]

Reduce a man to his bases form, that of animal instinct and then turn him into a killer, that stuff is bound to stick.

Unforseen consequences.

Collatoral damage.

Horror show.

[Orca41]

John,

Even those from relative "peacetime" have trouble with this. I was a Panama vet, and haven't been the same since.

We use them, claim to glorify their sacrifice, then put them on the streets to self-medicate and decay...

It's sick, but not unexpected of this administration. People don't see problems until they are smacked in the face with them.

[saami]

Number one is getting our troops out of this war and home. Number two is admitting that PTSD probably happens to everyone that is put in war; it becomes the norm. PTSD is a killer; it can kill the person with it by suicide or people that they love or come in contact with by murder. It is real. The military doesn't want to admit that it occurs with high frequency because no one would want to join the military and have their life destroyed by PTSD. So they intimidate those who are struggling to get help or put them in a no win situation where they "buck up" in order to not be dumped out of the service. These are our fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, etc. We must demand that the military take care of them. We must demand that Bush and his minions get us out of this damn war. It is long after impeachment time for Bush/Cheny.

[SubparDude]

I am a criminal lawyer and represented dozens of "Gulf War I" vets on rape, robbery & murder.

Now the next batch is here -- and busy.

Just doing what they were trained to do. No getting that Genie back in the Bottle.

The surge is working!

Against us.

[Deltoid]

How ironic it is, that while we are fighting this bogus war on terror, our own servicemen have returned home from duty and have killed more Americans on our own soil, than those big bad terrorists have since 9/11.

[AnnArky]

There will be, on so many levels, retribution to pay for the black stain the US has created and become. There are the laws of man and there are the laws of the universe (what some call "the laws of God"). With regard to the laws of the universe, Commander Codpiece will not be able to invoke executive privilege, the Republicans/Democrats will not be able to filibuster and the rest of us will not be able to blog with our petty opinions. For what we have done, either through direct action or silence, we will ALL pay - that is a given. The first signs are now evident - the men and women directly involved in the action now coming home angry, ruined, psychotic, maimed physically and mentally, telling stories of torture and atrocity; passing their disease on to their offspring, alienated from their families, turning to drugs, alcohol and self or family-abuse to feed that pain which cannot be satiated. The fallout from this war will make Vietnam look like a Sunday picnic. The "disease" brought back from Iraq will fester and spread throughout our culture in the most insidious and covert ways and one day, down the road, in their anger, those born to suffer the consequences, our children, will wonder why we let it happen and curse us for it.

[Jander]

Funding care for our Veterans should be priority #1. They have earned it. I occasionally donate to various vets groups, sign petitions and write letters to politicans and media. What else can the average American do to support our brave troops?

[ProfessorDuh]

So 121 U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan have returned home to kill citizens of the society that sent them there. Can"t say I blame them much. We taught them to treat Iraqi lives as cheap and disposable, literally as not worth counting. They merely reasoned from that to the worthlessness of all human life. Quite logical.

[MamaBird62]

Jay got the math wrong, it's .06% if you use the 200,000 number, but even using the 1,000,000 number as total troops serving, that's a murder rate of .012%, or roughly double the national average of .006%
I think the point here is that our troops don't get the mental care they need when they get home. We also have to account for the fact that the population of enlisted people is primarily young males, who are most prone to homicidal behavior anyway.
I hope the numbers game doesn't get in the way of establishing that we must do more for these people when they get home.

[SirReal1]

The problem of PTSD IS REAL, and needs to be addressed.
Resistance to funding "Scientific Research" on several Veteran Related issues is unconscionable.
Does anyone here have a belief that this entire issue should be looked at with a degree of factual information, and that we should then develop a plan on how to attempt to resolve the problem based upon those facts?
Some of the assertions, by both sides of the political spectrum, made on this topic, defy logic and rationale in an effort to support their premise. Few, if any, offer any facts.
Is there even a possibility we could agree on at least a "basic list of facts" and thereby at least frame the debate in rationale terms?
My list includes:
Soldiers returning with PTSD, Head Trauma, and disorders from exposure to toxins are a problem that our society needs to provide assistance for.
Comprehensive Medical, Psychological, and Spiritual assessments for EVERY Soldier returning to the U.S. should be done, WITHOUT imposing any preconceived stigma upon the Soldiers.
Assistance, in any of the three areas mentioned above, should be provided to any Veteran of a Foreign War, for the remainder of their lives, upon their request.
Any "reports" of "Numbers of Vets" doing this or that, should be balanced by "realistic comparisons" with numbers within the General (and comparable) population.
These data SHOULD BE collected, reviewed, analyzed, and reported on a regular basis, without bias, and made available to the public, so that a REASONED debate on the issues can take place.
Anything less than the above is just noise for the purpose of obfuscation, diversion, political slant, or to promote controversy.
Individual BELIEFS, unsupported by facts, as a premise to the debate, serve no useful purpose.

This, and other problems we have to address, as a Nation, can be considered by the standard familiar to car ownership and maintenance. "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later." The bottom line, we are going to pay, it is up to us to decide when and how much.

[Elizabeth]

I've had PTSD since birth and it's not easy living with it despite years of therapy. Everyone who has been in a fucking war has PTSD. They all need to be diagnosed and treated, probably for the rest of their lives. This is so very sad for them and their familys who, most likely, don't understand this horrid disorder. Almost always, clinical depression is also present and suicide attempts are common.

[mpgarr]

As a vet--one of my concerns about our nation engaging in this war was my concern that as has been the case in the past---our government would "break the faith" with those who served and would fail to adequately deal with the post-war difficulties the vets of this war would have----it seems that my unfaith in the government on this regard--at least to this point was not an incorrect stance---I do hope I get proved wrong in this case.

[jay1975]

As a two tour vet of Iraq I agree that we are not doing enough (if anything) about PTSD. I have seen first hand the self-destructive acts of those who were affected the worst. That being said, I do not agree with calling these 121 tropps part of a trend. If 121 out of 200,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan commit murder once they get home, that represents .0006 percent of all troops currently deployed. Using the "trend" word is a bit misleading. This is not to take away from the seriousness of PTSD and the lack of detection and prevention out there.

[hopeless277]

According to Bush, the only good veteran is a dead veteran. He doesn't care about PTSD. Hell, he can't even spell it. Sorry, vets, but your country is not prepared to care for you. We support you while you're killing Iraqis but once you get home, we just want you to sit down and shut up. So get in line vets, with the middle-class, the poor, the sick, the disabled, women, minorities and the immigrants. We all have a 'must do' list for 'our' government. To bad we don't have the money to pay our politicians enough to care about us.