This is your Army on drugs

"Remember back in January of 2007 - a year and a half ago - when I wrote that I always thought someone should do a story on the use of Prozac and other anti-anxiety meds in the ranks?

Well, someone finally did. This week's cover story at Time Magazine.

While the headline-grabbing weapons in this war have been high-tech wonders, like unmanned drones that drop Hellfire missiles on the enemy below, troops like LeJeune are going into battle with a different kind of weapon, one so stealthy that few Americans even know of its deployment. For the first time in history, a sizable and growing number of U.S. combat troops are taking daily doses of antidepressants to calm nerves strained by repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The medicines are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource: soldiers on the front lines. Data contained in the Army's fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope. Escalating violence in Afghanistan and the more isolated mission have driven troops to rely more on medication there than in Iraq, military officials say.

It's an important and interesting story, I think. Few civilians will ever have an appreciation of what it feels like to pull the lever on the slot machine every time you roll out of the gate - while rolling out of the gate several times per day in many cases."
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