According to a 2007 report, 49% of Army National Guard and 43% of Marine Reserves self-reported psychological health concerns three months following deployment.  Problems included relationship problems with spouse and children, significant depression, problems with anger and aggression, and alcohol abuse (Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health, 2007).  Hoge and his colleagues (2004) found that service personnel deployed to Iraq (15.6 to 17.1%) experienced major depression, generalized anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder than those deployed to Afghanistan (11.2%).  For those who screened positive, only 23-40% sought mental health care (Hoge et al., 2004).  Three years later researchers reported higher percentages, with 20.3% of active and 42.4% of reservists as requiring mental health treatment (Milliken et al., 2007).  With more than 101,000 active duty, 12,000 National Guard, and over 10,200 Reservists in the state of North Carolina, the treatment of post-deployment mental health problems must be considered as many combat veterans and their families associate stigma with seeing a mental health provider at the V.A. (Kudler & Straits-Troster, 2008).

Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health.  An achievable vision:  Report of the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health.  Falls Church, VA:  Defense Health Board, 2007.

Hoge CW, Castro CA, Messer SC, McGurk D, Cotting DI.  Koffman RL.  Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care.  New England Journal of Medicine, 2004:351(1);13-22.

Kudler H, Straits-Troster K.  Identifying and treating post deployment mental health problems among new combat veterans.  NC Medical Journal.  2008:69(1);39-41.

Milliken CS, Auchterlonie JL, Hoge CW.  Longitudinal assessment of mental health problems among active and reserve component soldiers returning from the Iraq war.  JAMA, 2007:298(18);2141-8.