2006年VOA标准英语-Study: One-Third of US Soldiers Returning

By Jessica Berman
Washington
01 March 2006

About one-third of U.S. military personnel returning from the war in Iraq use mental health services after their return home, according to a study published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Experts say this is the first study of its kind to assess the mental health needs of American soldiers who have served abroad.

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Army psychiatrist¹ Major Geoffrey Grammer spent a year in Iraq helping² soldiers cope with combat. Grammer himself was shot at.

"It was one of those times when you'd sit there and you'd say, "I can't believe this is happening to me," he said. "I don't have any choice but to kind of wall this off, and move on and attend to the mission at hand.""

Numerous studies have been conducted about the effects of war, including rates of alcoholism and post-traumatic stress syndrome³, notably⁴ after Vietnam. 

US Army soldier near Baghdad  
  
But to date, experts say there has been no analysis by the U.S. military of the impact of deployments on the use of mental health services by returning soldiers. Military officials say they want to know that information so they can make sure there are adequate resources.

Dr. Charles Hoge of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, and colleagues conducted a study to determine the relationship between deployment⁵ to Iraq and Afghanistan, and mental health care use during the first year after soldiers return home.

"The study shows that soldiers who are returning from Iraq, that a higher percentage of those soldiers report mental health concerns and use mental health services when they get home from Iraq compared to soldiers returning from Afghanistan or other locations," said Dr. Hoge.

Hoge and colleagues at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research studied about 300,000 military service members who returned home from Iraq, Afghanistan and other deployment locations between 2003 and 2004.

Overall, 19 percent of soldiers and Marines who returned from Iraq displayed signs of depression or other major mental health concerns compared with 11 percent for Afghanistan and 8.5 percent for other locations.

Hoge says he found that exposure to combat situations were most likely to cause the greatest distress⁶, with Iraqi veterans using inpatient and outpatient mental health services at higher rates than those deployed⁷ to other locations.

"The most important finding of the study, though, is that most of the services that soldiers are receiving, mental health services, they're coming in to get care early, within the first two months particularly of coming home. And this is very encouraging," he concluded.

Hoge says early treatment makes a big difference in the recovery of mental health. So, Hoge says the military is encouraging U.S. soldiers who need help to get mental health assistance as soon as possible.

1 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

6 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。