Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
(Preview)
Nothing needs reforming more than other people’s
habits.
Mark Twain
“Contractors who have worked in Iraq are returning home
with the same kinds of combat-related mental health problems that
afflict United States military personnel, according to contractor,
industry officials and mental health experts…A vast army,
one of contractors—up to 126,000 Americans, Iraqis and other
foreigners—is working for the United States government in
Iraq. Many work side-by-side with the soldiers and are exposed
to
the same dangers, but they mostly must fend for themselves
in navigating the civilian health care system when they come back
to the United States…‘I think the numbers are in the
thousands, maybe tens of thousands,’ said Paul Brand, a psychologist
and chief executive of Mission Critical Psychological Services,
a Chicago firm hired by Dyncorp International, a major contractor
in Iraq, to assess and treat its workers. ‘Many are going
undiagnosed. These guys are fighting demons, and they don’t
know how to cope.’...
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