Section I

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder. A mental illness that people experience after terrifying or life threatening events. There are three main symptoms of PTSD: re-experiencing the trauma, continuous avoidance, and increased arousal. Other symptoms are flashbacks, feeling emotionally numb or detached from others, anger, and irritability. These horrifying experiences can stick with them for the rest of their lives. Because the bad memory can never be erased, it is like watching a horror movie that keeps on frightening you literally to death (Cruz). Since there is no certain explanation for why PTSD affects soldiers so much, it is hard to help people suffering from this disorder. Military researchers estimate that twelve to twenty percent of Iraq war veterans show signs of post traumatic stress.

One in six veterans from the war in Iraq is suffering from a mental disorder. It is not unusual for people with PTSD to become deeply depressed and turn to alcohol and substance abuse. Some of the variables that can lead to PTSD are unexpected, uncontrollable, and inescapable event, perceived extent of threat or danger, suffering, upset, terror, fear, and negative social environment and concurrent stressful life events (Paolillo). One must go through these circumstances for three or more months to be diagnosed with this disorder. There are continuous studies to try and find the cause of this disorder and ways to help treat it, meanwhile soldiers continue to be affected by this in their every day lives while they wait and hope for someone to come up with a cure. PTSD will be the most controversial and most expensive injury to treat (Bilmes).

Traumatic Brain Injury also known as TBI is a commonly known injury of the military action in Iraq. This is caused by sudden jolts, blows, or penetrating head trauma that disrupts the function of the brain. Car crashes is the number one cause of TBI, followed by falls. TBI shares many symptoms with PTSD leading to confusion in diagnosis and other problems (Nagel). There are two kinds of symptoms of TBI, external and internal symptoms. Some external symptoms include periods of unconsciousness, impaired physical and emotional functioning, slowed ability to process information, memory loss, amnesia, depression, anxiety, and seizures. Some internal symptoms are concussive and bruised damages, changes in cellular activity, and internal swelling (Nagel).

An estimated eleven to twenty percent of returning combat troops suffers from traumatic brain injury (Carro). Suffering from both PTSD and TBI creates an even more difficult problem to solve. Estimating conservatively the cost of caring for veterans with TBI from these wars could be 14 billion dollars over twenty years and 35 billion dollars over their lifetimes (Elliott). Being diagnosed with this injury can cause blindness, deafness, speaking issues, difficulty with physical functions such as walking. The rate of TBI among Iraqi veterans from 2003-2005: fifty nine percent were diagnosed with TBI, fifty six percent moderate or severe and forty four percent mild. Mild TBI means a slight change in mental status or consciousness. Severe TBI means an extended period of unconsciousness, problems with independent function, and amnesia (O’Conor). Reducing the extent of brain injuries is complicated by several factors 1) the patients often arrive under sedation, making it hard to asses their neurological status. 2) Patients are distracted by their other injuries. 3) TBI is not always discovered on x-rays, MRI’s, or CT scans.

Another major problem for returning soldiers is disability payments. This problem causes soldiers to end up with financial problems and health problems that prevent them form working and lead to a high cost of medical bills. Because soldiers have families to support they often end up facing evictions from their homes. From 2005 to 2007 the number of claims field has gone up twenty seven percent (Patterson). According to the Department of Veteran Affairs the waiting period for their disability payments has gone up. The problem is not that the veterans never receive their money or that they do not receive enough of it, it is the backlog of the claims or working inventory as the VA calls it, which means that veterans are waiting up to eight months to receive their first disability payment from the government (Ballestros).

The rising number of troops needing disability payments has caused a major problem. 1.4 servicemen deployed in current war are eligible to claim some level of disability compensation from VBA. Disability compensation is suffering from an illness, disease or injury incurred or aggravated while soldier was on military service. Soldiers get a rating based on their disability on a percent scale zero to one hundred; the ratings determine whether members get medical retirement and what payments for disability they will receive after being discharged from medical care. In some cases soldiers receive low disability ratings; any soldier with a rating below thirty percent does not receive coverage through military which results in them having to pay taxes on their severance payment opposed to receiving a monthly retirement check (Daily). Because of the process soldiers have to go through to receive the payment some do not even bother or wait until it is too late to file for the payment. A common complaint is the disability claims process is not done in a timely manner and causes results in economic problems, homelessness, addiction, and suicide for hundreds of thousands of military personnel (Daily).