These numbers should be a wake-up call on the mental health impact of this war. One in three soldiers will come back with post traumatic stress disorder or comparable mental health issues, or depression and severe anxiety. |
They continue to downplay the severity and the real size of the problem. |
This is the monster they made. |
to secure Iraq and help the Iraqi people. |
We need some leadership in Washington to recognize the pending threat of PTSD to veterans and our country as a whole. George Bush doesn't talk about mental health and he doesn't talk about veterans. Veterans' issues are not a big priority for him. |
We saw firsthand the terrible suffering that they had endured. We protected a hospital and kept a school safe from sniper fire. We saw hope in the faces of Iraqi children who may have the chance to grow up as free as our own. |
We're definitely looking at a wave of guys coming back who will want to run. |
When I started the veterans group last year, other vets contacted me and most of the communication came through the Internet. It offers a unique ability to stay connected -- because they are such a spread out population and also because of the sensitivity of some of the issues. If you are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or an amputation, it's really difficult to find people you can relate to. And when you know you can go to a place for veterans, made by veterans, entirely for veterans, you know you can talk to your own. |
With numbers this high, the problem is going to grow fast. |