1.1 Million Americans Care for Wounded Soldiers: 40% at Risk for Depression

Since the September 11 attacks, a new study revealed that over 1.1 million Americans are caring for injured or disabled military veterans. Many of these caregivers experience intense hardship in their efforts.

The numbers from the RAND Corp. study were taken since 2001, which suggests that caregivers are even more numerous than suggested because there are 22 million veterans in the U.S. dating back to World War II. Since then our country has countless conflicts overseas, such as the Vietnam War, Korean War, and Gulf War. There exists a total of 5.5 million caregivers for veterans since World War II.

These military caregivers aren't doctors, nurses, or assisted-care professionals; they are spouses, children, parents, friends, and other relatives. This duty hinders the life of the caregiver, as many struggle to keep their full-time jobs. In fact, nearly 30% have given up their job to commit to caregiving. Additionally, almost 33% don't have health insurance and nearly 40% are at a risk for depression, according to this ABC News article.

This RAND study is the largest and most comprehensive of military caregivers. These new and younger caregivers provide $3 billion in care annually, which save the veterans countless health care dollars. Veterans with emotional and behavioral issues composed the greatest number for the post 9/11 caregivers.

12% of the volunteers spend more than 40 hours a week giving care, essentially making it their full-time job or their second full-time job. The caregivers on the whole miss an average of 3.5 days of work per month, which results in $5.9 billion in lost productivity. With health care costs as high as ever, the caregivers have no choice but to miss work and/or dedicate their time to the veteran in need.

"There is an acute shortage of efforts to provide services directly for military caregivers. There is a particular need for programs that focus on the younger caregivers who aid the newest veterans," study co-leader and senior behavioral scientist Rajeev Ramchand, in this Health.com article.

Perhaps the government should provide a more extensive program for veteran care, since it's up to them whether or not the United States is involved in wartime conflicts. An overwhelming number of lives are affected since 2001, with massive amounts of time and money being lost. A solution is imperative.