The Vietnam War ended more than 30 years ago, but controversy concerning its psychiatric cost continues today. On page 978 of this issue, Dohienwend et al. (1) have reanalyzed the prevalence of posttramatic stress disorder (PTSD) among U.S. male veterans of the war, further adding to the debate about the psychological trauma incurred during exposure to military combat. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 14.7% of male veterans developed PTSD after serving in Vietnam, but only 22% still had the illness by the late 1980s (2). Clinical experts on PTSD disputed this conclusion, arguing that flawed methods underestimated the true prevalence of the problem. To resolve the issue, Congress authorized the National VietnamVeterans' Readjustment Study (NWRS) (.3) Its results indicated that 30.9% of male veterans developed PTSD, and an additional 22.5% developed partial PTSD. Moreover, 15.2% still suffered from the disorder in 1990, a prevalence rate nearly seven times as high as that determined by the CDC Congress had been poised to phase out counseling and other services for Vietnam veterans, but the NWRS triggered an abrupt about-face. The government poured funds into clinical services and research designed to cope with an apparent epidemic of chronic PTSD among Vietnam veterans.
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