The Billings Gazette: Gazette opinion: U.S. must do more to serve war veterans
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars made PTSD a household acronym.
The toll that nine years of combat with extended and repeated deployments has taken on hundred of thousands of U.S. service members includes post-traumatic stress disorder.
Montana has been a leader in improving screening for PTSD and other brain disorders among returning National Guardsmen. The Montana model of boosting the quality of post-deployment mental health screening is now being adopted nationwide.
Another leap forward for good mental health comes with the announcement last week that the Department of Veterans Affairs is revising its regulation for PTSD disability and health care eligibility. No longer will veterans have to prove that a particular war incident caused their PTSD.
The VA has reported that around 400,000 U.S. veterans, including 3,250 in Montana, are receiving disability compensation for PTSD.
