Content area
Full Text
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are considered the "signature" injuries of military personnel serving in the Iraq war. An alarming number of returning veterans are incurring a combination of these two disabilities. TBI and PTSD combined presents an array of challenges for injured persons that are experienced differently by those separately affected by TBI or PTSD. Hence, the combination of TBI and PTSD presents a new disability classification for the rehabilitation counseling profession. There is an acute need to develop and facilitate specialized care and rehabilitative services for veterans impacted by this nascent disability. We highlight neurobiological, behavioral, and physiological characteristics associated with combat-incurred TBI/PTSD injuries. Additionally, we offer recommendations for rehabilitation counseling professionals and researchers to consider in response to our review of the current system of veteran care, common barriers to rehabilitation and societal re-integration, and available resources for military personnel impacted by TBI and PTSD.
In 2002 and 2003, the George W. Bush Administration stressed mat Iraq posed a danger to the safety and security of the United States through the fear that Iraq was developing an arsenal of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. The United States and its allies subsequently invaded Iraq in March 2003 and this conflict, commonly referred to as the "Iraq War," continues into its sixth year (Wong, 2008).
The United States has incurred massive human and financial expenditures through its involvement in Iraq. It is estimated that total spending on the Iraq war will cost the United States up to $3 trillion to fund current military operations along with the expenses of paying the long-term disability costs of injured military personnel, death benefits sent to the families of those killed in Iraq, and interest fees paid by the United States Treasury to borrow money to fund current expenditures (Bilmes & Stiglitz, 2008). More importantly, as of October 4, 2008, a total of 4,169 United States military service members have lost their lives in this conflict (U.S. Department of Defense, 2008). Further, the organization "Iraq Body Count" estimates that through mid October 2008, 88,373 to 96,466 Iraq citizens have been killed since the March 2003 invasion (Iraq Body Count, 2008).
The American public as well as rehabilitation professionals are increasingly developing awareness of...