Civilians the forgotten victims of Iraq stress disorder

A picture released by the US Army 07 June 2006 shows a US soldier looking through a M-4 scope while providing overwatch security in the town of Tal Afar, north of Baghdad 24 May, 2006. According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 15-17 percent of soldiers come back from Iraq suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.(AFP/US ARMY-HO/File/Staff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey)

June 11,2006

by Veronique Kiss

WASHINGTON (AFP) -David Meredith was one of tens of thousands of American civilians who believed the high salary to be earned as a contractor in Iraq outweighed the risks.

"Before, I was a cool, laid-back, easygoing guy," said the 37-year-old truck driver and father of four. "Since I came back from Iraq, I have suicidal thoughts, angry outbursts, insomnia, flashbacks."

Meredith, who spent one year in Iraq from 2004-2005, is among thousands of military and civilian veterans of the Iraq conflict to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

US soldiers get psychological treatment. Meredith says he gets no help from his former employer, Halliburton, which had major contracts in Iraq.

Meredith earned 90,000 dollars a year in Iraq. "It is true, I earned nearly double what I could in the United States but now I feel like my country is turning its back on me," he told AFP by telephone.

Now back at home in Kansas, the driver relies heavily on anti-depressant drugs and his wife's health insurance to pay the medical bills.

A local doctor diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but Halliburton's insurer refuses to pay for treatment. He can no longer work as a driver because of the drugs he takes. "I feel betrayed," he said. Read more...