Veterans Mental Health Issues Differ by Gender and Diagnosistic Label

We have placed two article both referencing research dealing with female veterans.

Full Article at: Mental Health Issues Differ for U.S. Male, Female Vets
Depression more likely among women, PTSD more common in men, study finds


WEDNESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) --"Mental health issues confronted by U.S. veterans returning from the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan differ by gender, new research suggests.

Female veterans are more likely to have a diagnosis of depression than are their male counterparts, according to a study of nearly 330,000 veterans who received health care from the Veterans Administration from 2002 to 2008. They are also generally younger than their male counterparts and more likely to be black.

In contrast, male veterans were found to be more prone than their female peers to post-traumatic stress disorder and/or alcohol abuse.

The analysis was led by study author Shira Maguen of the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She and her colleagues reviewed data on more than 329,000 veterans of "Operation Enduring Freedom" and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" obtained from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs."

Full Article at: PTSD in Veterans Can Lead to Other Medical Issues

By ThirdAge News Staff
Posted October 7, 2010 1:37 AM

"A recent study suggests that military veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with mental health issues such as PTSD may also suffer the burden of more medical illnesses later on. It seems it’s particularly female veterans who suffer most with post-traumatic stress disorder and additional problems such as headaches and lower back pain.

The study found 3,501 female veterans with PTSD out of 12,831 total returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, along with 27,083 male veterans with PTSD out of 77,727 total returning home. The study doesn’t include veterans with other stress-related disorders or other mental health conditions.

Study researcher Susan Frayne, a physician with VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University, cautioned that the researchers could only point to an association between the PTSD and additional medical illnesses. Only future studies may answer whether PTSD somehow directly contributes to the additional conditions."