Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical treatment from Department of Veterans Affairs facilities are far more likely to require medical assistance for mental health difficulties than for physical injuries, according to a study published this month by researchers from Dartmouth Medical School and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. One of every five veterans who sought treatment for pain were also diagnosed with mental health disorders, according to Tracy Stecker, a DMS psychiatric researcher who worked on the study.
The researchers sought to publicize the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders among veterans, according to Stecker. Although the study found that the most common diagnosis among returning veterans was physical pain, nearly all of the other top diagnoses were for psychiatric problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and substance abuse.
The study's results primarily came from "data analysis," according to Stecker, who said further analysis was necessary before the researchers could determine whether VA hospitals needed to be improved to cope with the influx of veterans seeking treatment for mental health problems.
"We're just laying down the groundwork that most people coming back from war need psychiatric help," Stecker said.
The study was conducted in 2008 using data from the VA database. Stecker and fellow DMS resarcher Mark McGovern collaborated with Arkansas researchers John Fortney and Richard Owen, as well as Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System researcher Silas Williams. The researchers pulled data on veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts beginning in October 2001 when the first patient from the war in Afghanistan was recorded through 2006.
Although the most recent data was from four years ago, Stecker said she was confident the same trends would be exist if the study were conducted again.
"I bet the data would still hold if someone pulled it today," she said.
The 153 medical centers are a service provided by the Veterans Health Administration, a branch of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA database in Austin, Texas, allows researchers to look at specific data on patient visits while keeping personal information anonymous, Stecker said.
Stecker, who works with struggling veterans, said she believed the VA was doing "everything in its power" to contend with the increased number of veterans with psychiatric difficulties. She said that the main problem facing returning veterans is the "pretty big stigma" around veterans seeking psychiatric treatment, and that many do not even know how to seek treatment.
"It is really hard to admit to themselves that they are struggling," she said.
Stecker noted an "interesting shift" among more recent veterans, who are increasingly able to admit that they need treatment, she said. She added, however, that even these veterans have a difficult time overcoming their trauma.
Stecker spoke of one particular veteran she had worked with who lost most of his friends in combat and was struggling to come to terms with the ordeal.
"He thinks about it and mourns them every day," she said. "He just can't find any closure."
