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Newspapers and magazines are filled with stories about high rates of psychiatric disorders in veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters. Just how bad is it? Using a Veterans Affairs database, investigators analyzed data on 289,328 veterans who entered the VA health system in 2002–2008 after service in Iraq or Afghanistan.
New mental health diagnoses increased sixfold, from 6.4% (28 of 439 veterans) to 36.8% (106,726 of 289,328) during the study period; overall prevalence was 21.8% for PTSD and 17.4% for depression. Most diagnosed veterans had at least two diagnoses. In an analysis that more broadly included behavioral, marital, and family problems, the prevalence of a new diagnosis was 42.7% by study's end. Risk was higher for depressi…