Soldiers' brain injuries going untreated, expert says

Soldiers' brain injuries going untreated, expert says

Jen Skerritt , Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, April 24, 2008
WINNIPEG - Doctors and psychologists are missing the hidden signs of brain trauma in soldiers returning from war, a military health expert says.

Dr. Harriet Zeiner, a neuropsychologist at a Veteran's Affairs trauma centre in California, said traumatic brain injury has become more prevalent as the tools of warfare have evolved from bullets to roadside bombs.

Zeiner spoke Thursday at a military trauma conference for health professionals in Winnipeg.


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Font:****The conference is aimed at addressing ongoing problems with Canadian soldiers returning home with a host of mental health issues.

Zeiner said that if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ended today, statistics would show nearly 28,000 U.S. soldiers have been injured in combat - 65 per cent of whom were injured by some sort of explosive blast.

While estimates peg the number of U.S. soldiers with brain injury around 10,000, Zeiner said that number is far too low. Anyone who was in the vicinity of a roadside bomb blast could be suffering from a brain injury as a result of the impact and have major problems re-adjusting to daily life once they return home, she said.

"This is a gross, gross underestimate," Zeiner said, noting brain injury can leave soldiers with social, memory and psychological problems.

"They don't really know why they're thinking and feeling and acting differently."

Since 2004, the Operational Stress Injury Clinic at Deer Lodge in Winnipeg has handled about 300 referrals for veterans, military personnel and RCMP.

Dr. Nancy Prober, a psychologist at the Winnipeg clinic, said many patients have symptoms of post-traumatic stress along with depression and generalized anxiety.

According to spokeswoman from Veteran's Affairs Canada, 11,000 veterans have used their benefits to seek help for psychiatric disorders, including 7,100 people suffering from post-traumatic stress.


They do not track the number of brain injuries and Canadian Forces was unable to say whether they monitor the number of head injuries by press deadline.

Meanwhile, the Department of National Defence says suicide rates among their military personnel are actually lower than those among the overall population.

Suicide rates in the Forces have been decreasing for the past 12 years, according the military's website.

Between 2005 and 2007, there were 26 suicides by male personnel and two by female personnel, the website said.

Prober said local clinicians are hoping to learn from some of Zeiner's user-friendly tips on signs that could indicate brain injury and specific questions to ask a soldier returning from war.

Headaches, dizziness, sleep and balance problems can indicate a person has a hidden brain injury and that more extensive medical exams are needed.


Zeiner said screening for brain injury is extremely important since soldiers suffering from head trauma may have trouble holding down a job and relationships.

Some women have a particularly difficult time returning home, Zeiner said, because of their stereotypical social roles. While men suffering from head injury can still provide for their families with their military pension, Zeiner said women are more often seen as unable to perform their traditional roles as caregivers.

Women may not remember their pregnancy, milestones in their children's life and be unable to recognize social or sexual cues. Zeiner said women with head injuries also get pregnant more often and experience more sexually transmitted infections because they don't remember to use birth control or practice safe sex.

"Women aren't treated the same," Zeiner said. "They're frequently demoted after their head injury because they couldn't remember to follow their orders."

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
© Winnipeg Free Press 2008

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