SURVEY: VETS HAVE TROUBLE ADJUSTING BACK HOME

At least one in four Connecticut soldiers in a recent survey fit the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder after they returned from overseas deployments, according to a new study.

It also suggested troops are reluctant to seek counseling from mental health workers, and about half said their general health was “much worse” or “somewhat worse” than before their wartime deployments.

Survey: Vets have trouble adjusting back home

The Hartford Courant via The Associated PressPosted : Sunday Mar 16, 2008 15:40:17 EDT

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_readjustment_031608/

HARTFORD, Conn.— At least one in four Connecticut soldiers in a recent survey fit the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder after they returned from overseas deployments, according to a new study.

It also suggested troops are reluctant to seek counseling from mental health workers, and about half said their general health was “much worse” or “somewhat worse” than before their wartime deployments.

The findings come from surveys sent to 1,000 Connecticut troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The study is being conducted by Central Connecticut State University’s Center for Public Policy and Social Research with help from the Yale School of Medicine.

More than 11,000 state residents have returned from wartime deployments in the past five years, according to state officials. In the last nine months, a state hot line has fielded more than 300 calls for help from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their family members.