Combatting PTSD and Brain Injury: Pentagon's $100 Million Investment

The Pentagon is investing more than $100 million in new efforts to fight both traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The announcement of the new initiatives was made to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, which triggered off the 2 wars that have resulted in thousands of veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury.

California veterans benefits lawyers expect cases of post traumatic stress disorder to explode over the next few months, as soldiers return from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US military has been very concerned about the high incidence of both traumatic brain injury as well as life-altering post-traumatic stress disorder, which has been blamed for the high incidence of suicides among returning veterans. The military has been investing in brain injury research, but it is clear that more needs to be done to understand how best we can help these veterans who are returning home in such a crippled state.

The Pentagon’s 2 new initiatives are the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD and the Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium. These 2 consortiums will be managed by the Department Of Veterans Affairs and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs on behalf of the Defense Department.

The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD will study the potential indicators of the condition, possible strategies to prevent PTSD, interventions and treatments. The Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium will try to understand more about the causes of brain injury, the conditions that are associated with a worsening of brain trauma, as well as other related issues.

What makes both traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder especially challenging to beat is that very often, both of these conditions are found in the same person. A person who suffers a brain injury is at a much higher risk of suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.