Iraq Vets Suffer Stress Disorders Akin to Those of Vietnam
August 10, 2004
Soldiers returning from service in Iraq have rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) akin to those who served in the Vietnam War, a new military survey finds.
About 17.4 percent of the 1,300 North Carolina paratroopers surveyed upon their return from Iraq suffered symptoms of posttraumatic stress, including nightmares, extreme anxiety, and inappropriate anger, according to an Associated Press account.
A national survey of Vietnam veterans in 1988 determined that about 15 percent had PTSD at the time, the AP reported. In all, 30 percent of the Vietnam vets polled had had PTSD at some point since returning home.
The new survey included voluntary answers from 1,300 members of the 82nd Airborne Division 2nd Brigade based in Fayetteville, N.C. They were part of the original invasion force and had spent more than a year in Iraq, the AP reported.
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