by user267744648 6

drug    
Soldiers still suffer from drug addictions or dependencies post-battle

Friday, March 23, 2012

written  by: J. D. Heyes
   
(NaturalNews) It was a report that shocked most Americans: A senior noncommissioned officer walked out of his base in southern Afghanistan well before dawn, armed with his M-4 carbine and a mind full of ill-intent. Before the sun rose, 16 Afghan civilians, many of them women and children, lay dead in a nearby village, leaving elected leaders, the soldier's commanders, friends and fellow service members, the civilians he enlisted to serve, and his own family grieving and searching for answers.

What could cause Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a husband and family man who has been praised by commanders and fellow soldiers alike, go so completely off the deep end? Increasingly, it's looking like a host of issues, including money problems, legal woes and trouble at home, are at least partially responsible.

But there is another element that can't be discounted, and it's one that is difficult to measure in tangible terms: How much of an influence did battle stress have on Bales, who was on his fourth deployment in just over 10 years?

Having served a combat tour in Afghanistan, where I was exposed often enough to improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire, one year-long tour is stressful enough for most people. So to me, it is understandable that, for the past several years, larger numbers of returning veterans have experienced mental health problems