New study examines costs of PTSD

The RAND Corporation held a congressional briefing today on “Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery” in which senior social research analyst Terri Tanielian discussed the findings of RAND’s recent study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) amongst U.S. military troops who have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tanielian said the RAND study explored the dynamics of PSTD, major depression, and TBI. It examined prevalence, societal costs (including decreased productivity and loss to suicide), and gaps in care for these conditions. Tanielian said that approximately 300,000 veterans currently suffer from PTSD, and that two-year post-deployment costs vary with severity but average about $26,000 per case. She also said that members of the Army or the Marines are at higher risk for these conditions than those enlisted in the Air Force or Navy, and that Hispanics and women are also at higher risk. However, she said the most determining risk factor was combat exposure and experience. Tanielian explained that while effective treatments do exist, not enough veterans are accessing them for reasons that range from scarce availability to fears pertaining to potential career implications and confidentiality risks. Increasing the number of people who receive care, she emphasized, can not only benefit veterans but can also offset the cost of treatment per case.