Dulce et decorum

The war in Afghanistan is taking its toll on Canadian soldiers:

Canadian Forces looking at hidden head injuries in deployed soldiers

WINNIPEG, April 25 (CP) - The Canadian military is considering whether to start screening soldiers for mild traumatic brain injuries upon their return from combat zones.

Sometimes called hidden head injuries, it's an issue that's been heating up in part because of the increasingly powerful roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices being used by insurgents in places like Afghanistan.

The Canadian Forces doesn't track the number of mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, said Dr. Mark Zamorski, head of the military's deployment health section.

"We don't have a clear picture of the magnitude of the problem in the Canadian Forces members," Zamorski said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The topic has received a lot of attention in the United States, where traumatic brain injuries are known as the "signature wound" of the war in Iraq. Earlier this month, American legislators voted to expand monitoring and research into brain injuries.

Zamorski said U.S. statistics show that about 15 per cent of military members deployed in combat missions report suffering a concussion, and he expects the numbers would be similar in Canadian soldiers.

A panel of experts is studying the issue within Canada's military ... (link)

On the American situation, as mentioned above:

Study says 300,000 US troops suffer mental problems

WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - About 300,000 U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, but about half receive no care, an independent study said on Thursday.

The study by the RAND Corp. also estimated that another 320,000 troops have sustained a possible traumatic brain injury during deployment. But researchers could not say how many of those cases were serious or required treatment.

Billed as the first large-scale nongovernmental survey of its kind, the study found that stress disorder and depression afflict 18.5 percent of the more than 1.5 million U.S. forces who have deployed to the two war zones.

The numbers are roughly in line with previous studies. ... (link)

Related:

• Over a quarter of Canadian soldiers suffer mental health problems post-Afghanistan.

• The number of Canadian soldiers with drug and alcohol problems has more than doubled since 2001.