Mental health problems arise months after troops return

CHICAGO – The euphoria of a soldier’s homecoming from Iraq often gives way to depression, stress and trouble dealing with family members during the first months home, a new Pentagon study finds.

And the adjustment struggle was more profound for National Guard troops and reservists than it was for active-duty soldiers.

About 42 percent of the Guard and reserves, compared with 20 percent of active-duty troops, were identified as needing mental health treatment in two screenings. The first testing was immediately upon return from Iraq and the second six months later.

Problems showed up more often on the second screening. From the time they returned, there was a fourfold increase in interpersonal problems, for example, likely driven by family conflicts as the returning soldiers adjusted to home life.

Almost a third of the more than 88,000 returning soldiers in the study had signs of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, conflicts in relationships or other problems after six months.

That compared with about 17 percent when the soldiers first got home, according to the report in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

Questions about alcohol, which were only on the second questionnaire, found that 12 percent of active-duty soldiers and 15 percent of National Guard and Reserve soldiers said they were having drinking problems.

But alcohol treatment was rare. Of more than 6,600 active-duty soldiers with drinking problems, only 134 were referred for treatment and only 29 were seen within 90 days, the study found.