idea of national interests, but it sure has hurt my 'interests'....
PTSD and Murder Among Newest VeteransJon Soltz | Posted January 14, 2008 | Politics
This weekend, while the 24-hour primary coverage raged on, the New York Times published a very well researched and stunning report on the number of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans involved in killings, here in America.
They found at least 121 cases, now, where a veteran was charged with involvement in a homicide.
The trend of our newest veterans being involved in killings on the homefront can be largely attributed to four letters -- PTSD. Our failure to properly screen for and treat this mental injury is the source of so many problems our newest veterans face -- from drug and alcohol abuse, to homelessness, to joblessness, to spousal abuse, to suicide, and now, to murdershttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-soltz/ptsd-and-murder-among-new_b_81380.htmlThis article originally appeared in the July 2007 volume of the Zero To Three
Journal on Coping With Separation and Loss.
The Young Military ChildOur Modern Telemachus
Stephen J. Cozza
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Alicia F. Lieberman
University of California, San Francisco
-A combat mindset or what has been referred to as Battlemind can lead to misdirected irritability or aggression that can impact on small children. Irritability, emotional rage, jumpiness, hypervigilance, or overreactivity can all lead to family conflict and misunderstanding on the part of the young child. Social withdrawal or reduced communication because of anxiety about sharing upsetting war-related experiences may cause further withdrawal from family members and lead to a child’s confusion about the meaning of such parental nonavailability.—Postdeployment emotional and behavioral responses can range from more typical short-term distress responses, such as change in sleep, decreased sense of safety, or social isolation, to the development of more serious psychiatric conditions, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression.
Studies conducted by Hoge and colleagues (Hoge et al., 2004; Hoge, Auchterlonie, & Milliken, (2005) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have demonstrated significant postdeployment distress in populations of combat exposed soldiers and marines returning from Iraq.
When screened 12 months after return from combat deployment, nearly 20% of service members endorsed symptoms consistent with a mental disorder, most often PTSD or depression.—Studies have demonstrated that the children of parents with depression (Beardslee, Versage, & Gladstone, 1998) evidence significant problems in a wide range of functional areas.
Children of Vietnam veterans with PTSD are more likely to evidence symptoms similar to those of their combat-exposed fathers (Rosenheck & Nathan, 1985; Rosenheck & Thompson, 1986).
http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServerChild Abuse Statistics
The NIS studies have been published on data collected in 1979 (NIS-1), in 1986 (NIS-2), and in 1993 (NIS-3).
Finding of the NIS-3:
* The estimated number of children seriously injured by all forms of maltreatment quadrupled between 1986 and 1993, from 141,700 to 565,000 (a 299% increase).
* Considering the Harm Standard:
* The estimated number of sexually abused children increased 83%;
* The number of physically neglected children rose 102%;
* There was a 333 % increase in the estimated number of emotionally neglected children; and
* The estimated number of physically abused children rose 42%.------------------------------------
Girls are sexually abused three times more often than boys.
Boys are at a greater risk of serious injury and of emotional neglect than are girls.
The incidence of fatally injured girls declined slightly, while the incidence of fatally injured boys rose.
Found no race differences in maltreatment incidence.
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Child neglect related fatalities were confirmed by CPS agencies, nearly 4 every day. Since 1985, the rate of child abuse fatalities has increased by 39%. Based on these numbers, more than three children die each day as a result of child abuse or neglect (NCPCA's 1996 Annual Fifty State Survey).
http://www.yesican.org/stats.html
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