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Virginia Veterans Report High Depression Rate


A report made by the Virginia tech shows that there are about two thirds of the U.S veterans from the Iraq and Afghan wars based in the state of Virginia that is now suffering from some form of depression.

Apart from that, there is more than one in four veterans that have suffered from a service-related head injury.

In fact, Mary Beth Dunkenberger says that the real numbers may be much higher. Dunkenberger, the author of the report, is the senior program director at the Institute for Policy and Governance at Virginia Tech.

According to her, several veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan war were scared to confess that they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, an anxiety disorder they had developed during the war.

During demobilization, veterans are all excited to see their families, and once they admit they have PTSD, that would keep them away from their families and could harm their careers.

As part of the report that was gathered for the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program, it was discovered that 66 percent of the Virginia veterans was reported to have been suffering from some type of depression. This percentage is only second to the Vietnam veterans.

In addition, ten percent of that was reported to have high-level of depression. Also, high number of suicides has been cited among the U.S veterans.

One of the primary concerns by the U.S veterans of these two wars is their lack of access to medical treatment and facilities, particularly in very far-flung areas. They also expressed fear of losing their jobs, since U.S unemployment rate is nearing ten percent.

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