Landmark Study: Iraq Vets Face Healthcare Crisis

By Paul Rieckhoff @ 2:46 PM (EST)

Shortly after Army Spc. Brandon Garrison returned from Afghanistan last June, his nightmares began:
“I remember waking up in the middle of the night. I’d sit straight up in bed and it was just hard to breathe and I was panicking and I remember my wife Lily asking me if I was OK and I remember crying in her arms several times because of horrific visions that I had, and the memories and the mass casualties that we suffered.”

Nothing in particular triggered the attacks. He would hear a song or a report about the war and before he knew it, he was reliving it. Garrison started drinking almost daily. It was the only way he knew to escape. (Military.com)

Veterans’ advocates have long had to rely on anecdotal stories like these, along with a patchwork of other mental health studies, to explain the psychological injuries that our veterans are facing. Now, thanks to a ground-breaking study by the RAND Corporation, we have access to striking new data on the mental health injuries and the barriers which prevent thousands of new veterans from accessing quality care. You can see the full report, and a quick summary, here.

The new study shines a spotlight on three key issues:

• Hundreds of thousands of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from PTSD, depression and traumatic brain injury.
• Of those, almost 50 percent are not receiving treatment – in part because of lack of access to care, and in part because fear of the stigma associated with a mental health diagnosis keeps veterans from reaching out.
• For those veterans who do get help, only about half are receiving what RAND calls “minimally adequate care.”

These findings are appalling, but not surprising. We veterans have been sounding the warning bell for years. I’d call this a wake-up call – but anyone who still isn’t aware of the problems facing returning veterans must be in a coma.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched the skyrocketing price tag on this war that PTSD and depression will have a serious economic cost – estimated at as much as $6.2 billion, just in the two years following deployment.

Compared to the $3 trillion cost of the war, that’s a drop in the bucket, of course. But these massive costs only underscore how important, and how cost-effective, the reintegration programs for today’s veterans are. Programs like the GI Bill are vital for veterans to find their place in the civilian world – and we must do a better job of funding these efforts. It’s the right thing to do, and it will save us money in the long run.

You can learn more about the GI Bill, the need for better veterans’ education benefits, and what you can do to help, here.

Cross posted at Huffington Post.