Veterans statistics: PTSD, Depression, TBI, Suicide.

The following veterans statistics are from a major study done by the RAND Corporation (full pdf of study), a study by the Congressional Research Service, the Veterans Administration, and the US Surgeon General.

PTSD statistics are a moving target that is fuzzy: do you look only at PTSD diagnosed within one year of return from battle? Do you only count PTSD that limits a soldier's ability to go back into battle or remain employed, but that may have destroyed a marriage or wrecked a family? Do you look at the PTSD statistics for PTSD that comes up at any time in a person's life: it is possible to have undiagnosed PTSD for 30 years and not realize it--possibly never or until you find a way to get better and then you realize there is another way to live. When you count the PTSD statistic of "what percentage of a population gets PTSD," is your overall starting group combat veterans, veterans who served in the target country, or all military personnel for the duration of a war?

And veterans PTSD statistics get revised over time. The findings from the NVVR Study (National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study) commissioned by the government in the 1980s initially found that for "Vietnam theater veterans" 15% of men had PTSD at the time of the study and 30% of men had PTSD at some point in their life. But a 2003 re-analysis found that "contrary to the initial analysis of the NVVRS data, a large majority of Vietnam Veterans struggled with chronic PTSD symptoms, with four out of five reporting recent symptoms when interviewed 20-25 years after Vietnam." (see also NVVR review)

There is a similar problem with suicide statistics. The DoD and their researchers tend to lose track of military personnel once they retire, and not all suicides will be counted as a military suicide (plus, is a person who drinks themselves to death committing suicide?). A recent study found U.S. veteran suicide rates to be be as high as 5,000 a year. See suicide statistics (bottom of page).

Summary of Veterans Statistics for PTSD, TBI, Depression and Suicide.

• there are over 2.3 million American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (compared to 2.6 million Vietnam veterans who fought in Vietnam; there are 8.2 million "Vietnam Era Veterans" (personnel who served anywhere during any time of the Vietnam War)
• at least 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have PTSD and/or Depression. (Military counselors I have interviewed state that, in their opinion, the percentage of veterans with PTSD is much higher; the number climbs higher when combined with TBI.) Other accepted studies have found a PTSD prevalence of 14%; see a complete review of PTSD prevalence studies, which quotes studies with findings ranging from 4 -17% of Iraq War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder)
• 50% of those with PTSD do not seek treatment
• out of the half that seek treatment, only half of them get "minimally adequate" treatment (RAND study)
• 19% of veterans may have traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Over 260,000 veterans from OIF and OEF so far have been diagnosed with TBI. Traumatic brain injury is much more common in the general population than  previously thought: according to the CDC, over 1,700,000 Americans have a traumatic brain injury each year; in Canada 20% of teens had TBI resulting in hospital admission or that involved over 5 minutes of unconsciousness (VA surgeon reporting in BBC News)
• 7% of veterans have both post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury
• rates of post-traumatic stress are greater for these wars than prior conflicts
• in times of peace, in any given year, about 4% (actually 3.6%) of the general population have PTSD (caused by natural disasters, car accidents, abuse, etc.)
• recent statistical studies show that rates of veteran suicide are much higher than previously thought (see suicide prevention page).
• PTSD distribution between services for OND, OIF, and OEF: Army 67% of cases, Air Force 9%, Navy 11%, and Marines 13%. (Congressional Research Service, Sept. 2010)
• recent sample of 600 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan found: 14% post-traumatic stress disorder; 39% alcohol abuse; 3% drug abuse. Major depression also a problem. "Mental and Physical Health Status and Alcohol and Drug Use Following Return From Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan." Susan V. Eisen, PhD
• Oddly, statistics for veteran tobacco use are never reported alongside PTSD statistics, even though increases in rates of smoking are strongly correlated with the stress of deployment and combat, and smoking statistics show that tobacco use is tremendously damaging and costly for soldiers.
• More active duty personnel die by own hand than combat in 2012 (New York Times)
  
  

Other veterans PTSD statistics references and sources:

• Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study
• http://ajph.aphapublications.org/toc/ajph/102/S1 (about suicide prevention and military)
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22390608
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47743091/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/does-macho-culture-keep-suicidal-soldiers-seeking-help/#.T-E1NLVYv0c (suicide rates per 100,000--11 civilian; 19 military after these two wars)
• http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57449255/military-suicides-grow-at-sharp-rate/ (same topic; goes into one person's case; half of military suicides from those who have not gone to war)
• http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/culture/black-women-key-to-easing-military-suicides--20120612 (importance of social support)
• Sleep problems outperform depression and hopelessness as cross-sectional and longitudinal predictors of suicidal ideation and behavior in young adults in the military Ribeiro, J D.; Pease, J L.; Gutierrez, P M.; Silva, C ; Bernert, R A. [Stanford]; Rudd, D M.; Jr., TJ E. Journal of Affective Disorders, Feb 2012 , pp 743-50 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.09.049
• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110614101116.htm (article on above study)
• may be hereditary? www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612070438.htm
• Prevalence and Characteristics of Suicide Ideation and Attempts Among Active Military and Veteran Participants in a National Health Survey. Robert M. Bossarte, PhD, Kerry L. Knox, PhD, Rebecca Piegari, MS, John Altieri, BS, Janet PDF MILITARY MEDICINE, 175. 10:703, 2010
• Evaluating Evidence of Risk for Suicide Among Veterans
  Robert M. Bossarte, PhD; Cynthia A. Claassen, PhD; Kerry L Knox, PhD PDF
• The Invisible Plague of Concussion by Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Senior Neurosurgery Resident Stanford University and Palo Alto Veterans Hospital. BBC Sept 5, 2013