Image from the U.S. Army via Flickr (Creative Commons License)

A few days ago, the nation paused to pay respect to those who have sacrificed for our country. As we took a day to remember and give thanks, it was important to pay tribute to all who have stepped forward to serve. On Memorial Day we acknowledge the wounds of war, the death and disability. But we are less aware of the hidden injuries—the military men and women who arrive back stateside without physical disability but whose lives are forever changed by their time in service. While some wear their scars on the surface, others’ scars are on their psyches.

On this past Memorial Day, Dr. Baxter Allen turned our attention to the devastation caused by traumatic brain injury. Today we focus on another invisible injury that causes prolonged suffering: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Since the beginning of the military action shortly after 9/11, more than 1.8 million men and women have served as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, in Iraq, and Operation Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan. While advances in medicine and technology have made it possible for more of our soldiers to return safely home than in previous conflicts, the stress of modern warfare, compounded by longer periods of deployment and frequent redeployment, has left our warriors with invisible wounds to their mental health in the form of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance-use issues. Of those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly one in five is plagued by depression or PTSD. These are wounds that affect soldiers’ mood and behavior, their relationships with loved ones, and their ability to hold a job and move forward with their lives.

Individuals have been traumatized by war for as long as humans have been taking up arms. Post-traumatic stress disorder is the modern manifestation of what we have long recognized as the effect that war can have on a soldier’s mental health. (It was called “war neurosis” during the French Revolution, “soldier’s heart” in the Civil War, and “shell shock” in World War I.)  PTSD, characterized by flashbacks and hypervigilance, affects about 14 percent of those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. While PTSD is the mental illness most often linked with combat, an equal number of service men and women suffer from increased rates of depression.