PTSD Rates Rising

Nearly 45% of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who sought care with VA through September 2008 had been diagnosed with possible psychological disorders, according to a January 2009 VA report.

Between fiscal years 2002-2008, VA reported that 400,304 Iraq and Afghanistan vets - or about 24% of the total troops who had served in the two conflicts - had gone to VA for treatment. Some 178,483 vets (45%) were diagnosed with possible mental disorders.

Of that total, 92,998 (23%) vets were diagnosed with possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 63,009 (16%) were found to have possible depressive disorders.

Other possible mental health diagnoses by VA were neurotic disorders (13%), affective psychoses (9%), abuse of drugs (7%) and alcohol dependence (4%).

Antonette Zeiss, VA's deputy director for mental health services, told Military Times in January that PTSD diagnoses have risen "quite steadily" over the past seven years, and "there's a steeper rate of increase between each of the quarterly reports as time goes on."

The most common disorder diagnosed by VA was possible musculoskeletal problems, which affected about 49% of Iraq and Afghanistan vets. Following possible mental disorders were ailments of the nervous system and sense organs (37%), digestive problems (32%), and diseases of the endocrine, nutritional and metabolic systems (23%).