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A decade after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,studies have shown that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops is surprisingly low, and a Harvard researchercredits the drop, in part, to new efforts by the Army to preventPTSD, and to ensure those who do develop the disorder receive thebest treatment available. In an article that appears in Science , Professor of Psychology Richard J. McNally says there is reasonfor cautious optimism when it comes to the prevalence of PTSD.While early estimates suggested as many as 30 percent of troopsmight develop PTSD, current surveys show the actual rates rangingfrom 2.1 to 13.8 percent. The most rigorous survey of Americantroops found that 4.3% of all American military personnel deployedto Iraq and Afghanistan developed PTSD, and 7.6 of those reportingcombat exposure did so. "As a society we're much more aware of these issues than everbefore," McNally said. "That is reflected by the fact that themilitary and the Veteran's Administration has established programsto ensure soldiers receive the best treatment possible. The titleof my article is 'Are We Winning the War Against Post-TraumaticStress Disorder?' I think a provisional answer to that is, 'Yes, wemight be.'" While part of the drop may simply be that wars are less lethal - ina decade of war in Iraq, fewer than 5,000 American troops werekilled, compared to more than 55,000 killed over a similar periodin Vietnam - McNally suspect that new efforts by the Army to tacklethe disorder sooner, and ensure soldiers receive the best treatmentavailable, may be helping, too. The suggestion that 30 percent of troops might develop PTSD wasbased on the findings of the National Vietnam Veterans ReadjustmentStudy (NVVRS), completed in 1990, which found that 30.9 percent ofVietnam veterans showed symptoms of the PTSD. While later analysesbrought that number down, the findings served to galvanize Armyefforts to address the risk of soldiers developing the disorder,McNally said. "It's important to remember that simply being deployed carries agreat deal of stress ," McNally said. "Soldiers miss their family, and those who stay athome essentially become a one-parent family. Difficulties withchildren, or school or making ends meet - there are all kinds ofstressors that have to do with separating families, let alonghaving one member in a war zone. Fortunately, the military hastaken steps to help soldiers cope with these stressors in additionto the traumatic combat stressors that can produce PTSD." That cognizance has emerged in the form of the ComprehensiveSoldier Fitness (CSF) program and Battlemind training, programscreated, respectively, to help soldiers build the resiliencenecessary to reduce their risk for PTSD before being deployed, andto treat those at risk of developing the disorder after theyreturn. "It's not therapy per se, but a preventive intervention to helppeople put their experiences in perspective," McNally said, of theBattlemind training. "For example, it encourages soldiers to usethe sort of emotional bonding that happens within units toreconnect with their families, and to see symptoms likehyper-vigilance not as symptoms of a mental disorder, but assomething they need to adjust when they come home. It helps peoplerealize that those things are part of the normal re-adjustmentprocess." And thus far, McNally said, the evidence suggests that the traininghas a positive effect. The results of random trials show that, fourmonths after returning home, soldiers who underwent Battlemindtraining showed fewer symptoms of PTSD and depression than did those who underwent the Army's standard postdeploymentprogram. Unfortunately, no such trials have been conducted withCSF, so it remains unclear what impact, if any, it has on theincidence of PTSD. Despite such efforts, however, some soldiers will develop PTSD,McNally said. Those who do will now have access to what are known to be the besttreatments for the disorder, including prolonged exposure andcognitive processing therapy. "Until this initiative, less than 10 percent of the clinicalspecialists in PTSD used these treatments," McNally said. "Thesetreatments weren't available to veterans of the Vietnam War - theywere only developed in the 1990s - and the evidence shows that thelonger you have PTSD, the more likely it is that other problemswill accumulate. The earlier we can get people into treatment, thequicker we can help them get their lives back together." Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Rotary Drum Dryer , China Vacuum Drying Machine, and more. For more , please visit Fluid Bed Dryer today!
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