Chiarelli: Reduce brain-injury stigma - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Chiarelli: Reduce brain-injury stigma

The Army’s vice chief of staff Monday called upon the service’s sergeants to change the stigma linked to “the signature wounds of this war – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.”

Speaking before an audience of noncommissioned officers, Gen. Peter Chiarelli said the Army has “seen a significant increase in number of soldiers” suffering from these two conditions.

Since taking over as the vice chief in August 2008, Chiarelli said cases of PTSD and TBI have grown from 38 percent to 52 percent among soldiers who have been involved in incidents in Iraq or Afghanistan that required a casualty report.

“This issue is real and must be addressed,” Chiarelli said at the 2009 Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition. “Contrary to what some believe, PTSD and TBI are not phantom conditions exhibited by weak soldiers trying to get out of a deployment. … This is something that affects real warriors.”

Chiarelli tasked NCOs to be careful of the tone they set on this issue because it will affect how their subordinates view these conditions.

“If you believe anxiety and depression are signs of weakness, so will they,” he said. “This is the great challenge of your generation. And how you respond will impact not only the soldiers who serve beside you today but those in future generations.”

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