Daily Dosage: PTSD prevented, $6 billion saved

Image by Army.mil via Flickr

A few weeks ago, the New York Times reported that war vet suicides reached an all-time high between January and July: 129 deaths, which was higher than in-combat fatalities during the same period.

Right now, PTSD and related wartime mental traumas are treated with psychiatric counseling, anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds, and other traditional – and often ineffective – medical methods. But the military wants to shape up: they’re requesting proposals for projects that would improve treatment…but, more importantly, prevent post-war trauma entirely.

That’s where Darpa, the Pentagon’s uber-weird research arm, enters the fray. In June, I blogged about their one-day information session on “Enabling Stress Resistance” using pharmacology to short-circuit the brain’s stress response. Must have gone well, because now Darpa wants specific ideas on how to “inoculate Warfighters against the complex stressors of combat operations.” And save the military some serious cash: Darpa reports that psychological treatment for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could cost up to $6 billion dollars.

But until the military’s armed with anti-stress vaccines, war vets will still be popping pills. Sometimes in lethal combination, which led to a rash of overdoses last year. This is one extreme health problem that’s not getting any better, anytime soon. And I’m not sure what’s worse: spending billions on trial vaccines to mess with human minds, or revelling in the potential financial benefits before the attempts are even successful.