How many Vietnam War veterans suffer from PTSD?

However, as time has gone on, that number has doubled to a staggering 30% of Vietnam veterans with PTSD, or 810,000 of the 2.7 million service members, in the National Vietnam Veteran Readjustment Study.

Was PTSD a known problem after the Vietnam War?

Their study found that almost three decades after the Vietnam War, many veterans continued to experience problems with PTSD. At the initial interview, approximately 12% had PTSD. Fourteen years later, the rates of PTSD had dropped only slightly to approximately 11%.

What do Vietnam vets suffer from?

NVVLS findings confirm the NVVRS finding that the majority of Vietnam theater veterans are mentally and physically healthy four or more decades after their warzone service. However, we also found that a significant number are suffering from persistent and chronic PTSD symptoms related to their experiences in the war.

Why did the Vietnam War cause so much PTSD?

Looking back, Roy thinks soldiers from the Vietnam era were particularly susceptible to PTSD because of feelings of isolation. “In earlier wars,” he says, “a group of men trained as a unit, were sent to fight as a unit, and returned home as a unit. That meant you had an instant support system.

Do all combat veterans get PTSD?

Of the soldiers who experienced any potentially traumatic combat exposures, only 31.6% developed the PTSD syndrome. When the researchers limited their analysis to the soldiers who experienced the most severe traumatic exposures, there was still a substantial proportion — about 30% — that did not develop the syndrome.

How did veterans cope when they came back from the Vietnam War?

Some people who opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War treated U.S. soldiers and veterans poorly. These stories added to the soldiers’ resentment of the antiwar movement. Rather than being greeted with anger and hostility, however, most Vietnam veterans received very little reaction when they returned home.

How many Vietnam vets have killed themselves?

On the basis of projections of the suicide rates ob- served in the CDC and Wisconsin studies to the entire Vietnam veteran population, we suggest that 8,000 to 9,000 Vietnam veterans committed suicide between their discharges and the early 1980s.

What was PTSD called in the Vietnam War?

Shell Shock
The psychological effects of this war were seen in returning veterans as involuntary tics and shaking uncontrollably and named Shell Shock or War Neuroses. The term was replaced by Combat Fatigue and later, Combat Stress Reaction during WWII due to the longer tours and extensive time soldiers spent on the battlefields.

What kind of PTSD did Vietnam veterans have?

Vietnam veterans suffered from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in unprecedented numbers, with PTSD affecting as many as 15.2% of Vietnam veterans.

Who are the veterans of the Vietnam War?

Both the NVVRS and NVVLS compared two groups of Veterans: those deployed to the Vietnam War (“theater Veterans”), and those who served during the Vietnam-era, but were not deployed to the Vietnam theater (“era Veterans”).

When was a similar study done on Vietnam Veterans?

Results of the study were compared to the results of a similar study completed in 1987 on the same sample of Veterans.

What kind of health problems did Vietnam veterans have?

Physical Health. Not surprisingly, NVVLS veterans reported more chronic health conditions than they did in NVVRS, given that chronic conditions typically begin later in life. Males averaged 5.4 lifetime conditions, and females averaged 6.6. More than half of theater veterans reported musculoskeletal (e.g., arthritis, rheumatism) conditions.

Are there Vietnam War veterans still suffering from PTSD?

Studies continue to find that PTSD in Vietnam war veterans remains a concern. A 2012 study looking at twins, found that 10 percent of “theater” veterans and 4.45 percent of “non-theater” veterans continued to cope with significant symptoms of PTSD. In many cases, the PTSD was categorized as “late onset.”

Results of the study were compared to the results of a similar study completed in 1987 on the same sample of Veterans.

How many Vietnam veterans died in the study?

The study sample used almost 1,500 of the over 2,300 National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) participants. Of the original participants, over 500 had died between the first and second study.