British soldiers sent to Iraq have coped with the psychological stress of war far better than their US comrades, according to a new British study published yesterday.
The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, showed that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affected up to 20 percent of US personnel returning from the war zone, compared with just 4 percent of British troops.
The researchers also found no evidence of "Iraq war syndrome," but said reservists suffered significantly more ill-health than regular professionals.
Professor Mathew Hotopf, from King's College London, led a team that questioned more than 10,000 British military personnel.
Extensive interviews were conducted with soldiers who served in the 2003 Iraq war or were deployed on subsequent tours of duty.
Their health conditions were compared with those of personnel who had not been to Iraq.
In response to the research, Britain's Ministry of Defense yesterday announced a new package of mental health support for the increasing number of reserve soldiers deployed in overseas operations.
Meanwhile, the US Army is warning soldiers and their families that a new film about an Iraq war medical unit may trigger mental health problems for some who see it.
Army brass have sent a cautionary warning to military medical personnel about the soon-to-be-aired Home Box Office documentary Baghdad ER, which gives a graphic view of the Iraq war through the eyes of trauma doctors and nurses, even filming during an amputation.
Despite many disturbing scenes, filmmaker Jon Alpert said the film had actually been toned down.
"Some of the real raw scenes were just a little bit too brutal. My first two days there, I witnessed four amputations," said Alpert.
A private screening was held in Washington on Monday, and the film will air on the HBO cable television network on Sunday.
Around the US, it will be shown at 22 US military installations, but military medical officers are concerned that it may spark adverse reactions among those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Army Surgeon General, Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley, sent out a memo last week warning the film may prompt flashbacks or nightmares among some veterans.
"It's gritty, it's graphic at times, and those who have a loved one deployed or may have lost a loved one might find certain scenes to be such that it might be something they would want to be careful about in viewing," said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.
Boyce said the memo was designed as a sort of "viewer discretion" warning, "particularly for those viewers for whom this may strike very close to home."
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband is to serve a life sentence for his murder without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing a cocktail given to her husband, Eric Richins, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Feb. 14, 2022, with a
‘PERSONAL MISTAKES’: Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison A southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and has resigned from her city position, officials said on Monday. Eileen Wang (王愛琳), mayor of Arcadia, was charged last month with one count of acting in the US as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected
DELA ROSA CASE: The whereabouts of the senator, who is wanted by the ICC, was unclear, while President Marcos faces a political test over the senate situation Philippine authorities yesterday were seeking confirmation of reports that a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had fled, a day after gunfire rang out at the Philippine Senate where he had taken refuge fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. “Several sources confirmed that the senator, Senator Bato, is no longer in the Senate premises, but we are still getting confirmation,” Presidential
HELP DENIED? The US Department of State said that the Cuban leadership refuses to allow the US to provide aid to Cubans, ‘who are in desperate need of assistance’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that Cuba’s leadership must change, as Washington renewed an offer of US$100 million in aid if the communist nation agrees to cooperate. Cuba has been suffering severe economic tumult led by an energy shortage that plunged 65 percent of the country into darkness on Tuesday. Cuba’s leaders have blamed US sanctions, but Rubio, a Cuban American and critic of the government established by Fidel Castro, said the system was to blame, including corruption by the military. “It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” he told
RSS