Vietnam: Post-Traumatic Stress and Other Lessons

Lessons from Vietnam

The casualties of war don't always have a limp, scar, or missing limb. Oftentimes, the soldiers injured most show no outward sign; the devastation is internal. Their affliction--Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD-often goes undiagnosed for years, causing a tremendous amount of suffering to the victim. The Iraq/Afganistan conflicts have produced even more victims of the troubling disease. With the mistakes of Vietnam as a learning tool, military psychologists are trying to make sure that no one suffers unnecessarily.

The official end of the Vietnam "Conflict" is said to be 1975. At that time, thousands of GI's were trying to adjust to life back in the states. The U.S. military was interested in how the soldiers were adjusting, but not much was being done to see just how successful they were. Congress, however, was interested.

Many reports of psychological issues amongst the veterans led to the congressional study of the mental affects of war on the ex-soldiers. Named The National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study, it was performed from 1986 to 1988. Those that responded to the study were asked about their mental health since leaving combat. The results were startling.

The Readjustment study found that 30.9% of men and 26.9% of women suffered from PTSD at some point in since returning from action. In addition study also found that 22.5% of men and 21.2% of women suffered from "partial PTSD" at some point since the Vietnam conflict. Researchers concluded that these two groups together made up almost the men and women who experienced action in Vietnam. These results were menacing enough for the U.S. government to establish a new agency charged with the treatment and research of PTSD and other psychological issues suffered by Vietnam vets.