The devastating numbers released by researchers today suggest not only that approximately 1 in 5 returning U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan may have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a traumatic brain injury (TBI), but also that veterans often fail to seek care for these problems.

The study was conducted by the RAND Corporation and suggests that hundreds of thousands of our soldiers may need significant mental health care now and in the foreseeable future. The research put the total societal cost of such care for these individuals upwards of $5 to $6 billion.

The real problem, of course, is that most soldiers won’t bother seeking treatment for these concerns, because of the significant stigma that still exists within the military. Whether your’s a private or an officer, seeking out mental health treatment could put a permanent mark on your record that leads to discrimination and being passed over for promotions:

“We need to remove the institutional cultural barriers that discourage soldiers from seeking care,” Tanielian said. “Just because someone is getting mental health care does not mean that they are not able to do their job. Seeking mental health treatment should be seen as a sign of strength and interest in getting better, not a weakness. People need to get help as early as possible, not only once their symptoms become severe and disabling.”

There’s no quick fix for these long-standing problems within the military, and despite a lot of lip service about fixing them, government and military leaders seem content to largely keep the status quo. After all, it’s hard to find new recruits when you have a statistic like that staring at you in the face — 1 in 5 soldiers are going to suffer from possibly significant long-term mental disabilities.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 18 Apr 2008
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