If the estimates had gone up I'm sure I would have heard about this from every media source. As it is, I'm happy it was reported at all.
Far fewer Vietnam veterans suffered from post-traumatic stress as a result of their wartime service than previously thought, researchers are reporting today, in a finding that could have lasting consequences for the understanding of combat stress, as well as for the estimates of the mental health fallout from the Iraq war.
An earlier study had found that about 30% of Vietnam veterans suffered from PTS at some point, about twice the percentage of vets who served in combat roles. The new study brings this down to 18.7% with 9.1% having a continuing disability.
Some people are upset by this new study and are worried that this will lead to cuts in funding for PTS treatment but I agree with Dr. Bruce Dohrenwend, a psychiatric researcher at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute who said, "I’d like to think that this study would help settle the debate, and that both sides would see that this was good science."
Posted by marybeth at August 19, 2006 12:25 AM Science