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Date: Nov. 14, 2007
Contacts: Christine Stencel, Senior Media Relations Officer
Alison Burnette, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail <news@nas.edu>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Military Personnel Who Serve in War Zones Face Increased Risk for Alcohol Abuse, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, and Marital and Family Conflict, IOM Report Confirms
WASHINGTON -- Military service in a war zone increases service members' chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other anxiety disorders, and depression, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Serving in a war also increases the chances of alcohol abuse, accidental death, and suicide within the first few years after leaving the war zone, and marital and family conflict, including domestic violence, said the committee that wrote the report at the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which asked for a comprehensive analysis of the scientific and medical evidence concerning associations between deployment-related stress and long-term, adverse effects on health.
Drug abuse, incarceration, unexplained illnesses, chronic fatigue syndrome, gastrointestinal symptoms, skin diseases, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain may also be associated with the stresses of being in a war, but the evidence to support these links is weaker. For other health problems and adverse effects that the committee reviewed, the data are lacking or contradictory; the committee could not determine whether links between these ailments and deployment-related stress exist.
Although the report cannot offer definitive answers about the connections between many health problems and the stresses of war, it is clear that veterans who were deployed to war zones self-report more medical conditions and poorer health than veterans who were not deployed. Those who were deployed and have PTSD in particular tend to report more symptoms and poorer health, the committee found. PTSD often occurs in conjunction with other anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse; its prevalence and severity is associated with increased exposure to combat.
A persistent obstacle to obtaining better evidence that would yield clearer answers is lack of pre- and post-deployment screenings of physical, mental, and emotional status. The U.S. Department of Defense should conduct comprehensive, standardized evaluations of service members' medical conditions, psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses, and psychosocial status and trauma history before and after they deploy to war zones. Such screenings would provide baseline data for comparisons and information to determine the long-term consequences of deployment-related stress. In addition, they would help identify at-risk personnel who might benefit from targeted intervention programs during deployment -- such as marital counseling or therapy for psychiatric or other disorders -- and help DOD and VA choose which intervention programs to implement for veterans adjusting to post-deployment life.
[ This news release and report are available at http://national-academies.org ]
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Committee on Gulf War and Health: Physiologic, Psychologic, and
Psychosocial Effects of Deployment-Related Stress
Richard Mayeux, M.D. (chair)
Director
Sergievsky Center, and
Co-Director
Taub Institute
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University
New York City
Kathryn Karusaitis Basham, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Human Behavior in the Social Environment Sequence
School for Social Work
Smith College
Northampton, Mass.
Evelyn J. Bromet, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
State University of New York
Stony Brook
Gregory L. Burke, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Public Health Sciences
School of Medicine
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Dennis S. Charney, M.D.
Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, and
Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor
Departments of Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, and Neuroscience
Mount Sinai School of Medicine; and
Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
Mount Sinai Medical Center
New York City
Michael Davis, Ph.D.
Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
School of Medicine
Emory University
Atlanta
Douglas A. Drossman, M.D.
Co-Director
Center for Functional GI and Motility
Disorders, and
Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry
Division of Gastroenterology and
Hepatology
School of Medicine
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill
Dwight L. Evans, M.D.
Ruth Meltzer Professor and Chair
Department of Psychiatry
School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Vincent J. Felitti, M.D.
Head
Department of Preventive Medicine
Southern California Permanente Medical Group
San Diego
Janice L. Krupnick, Ph.D.
Professor and Psychologist
Department of Psychiatry
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
William B. Malarkey, M.D.
Professor of Internal Medicine, Medical Biochemistry, Molecular Virology, Immunology, Medical Genetics, and Psychiatry;
Director
Clinical Research Center; and
Associate Director
Center for Stress and Wound Healing
Ohio State University
Columbus
Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D.
Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and Head
Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology
Rockefeller University
New York City
Thomas G. Pickering, M.D. Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University
New York City
Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, M.D.
Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School; and
Head
Department of Psychiatry
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston
Bernard Timothy Walsh, M.D.
William and Joy Ruane Professor of Pediatric Psychopharmacology
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University; and
Director
Eating Disorders Research Unit
New York State Psychiatric Institute
New York City
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE STAFF
Roberta Wedge, M.S.
Study Director |
