Military sees spike in number of PTSD cases

[unhappycamper]

Military sees spike in number of PTSD cases
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, May 28, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — The number of soldiers and Marines diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder jumped tenfold from 2003 to 2007, according to statistics released by the Army’s surgeon general Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, who also heads U.S. Army Medical Command, attributed the rise in the Army numbers in part to the increase in the overall number of soldiers exposed to combat and better record-keeping by the service.

But he also said that clinicians today "have a higher sensitivity to diagnosing" the condition than they did back in 2003, and researchers still have much to learn about why some people develop PTSD.

"I think we’re still in our infancy of fully knowing how to track it," Schoomaker said.

According to Army data, 10,049 soldiers who had been deployed to in combat zones were diagnosed with PTSD in 2007.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55141