Very interesting articles, the question is how was it determined that the addicts had under gone trauma? If it is merely self reporting, this is not nearly so interesting.

ricksa,

Quite so. But there is evidence from War. And that is verifiable.

The Ma'ariv story, "What Have I Done! -- A Hundred Soldiers Treated for 'Intifada Syndrome,'" focused on the Izun "rehabilitation village" near the town of Ceasarea. There, Ma'ariv reported, former soldiers are treated for deep mental crises, including severe drug abuse, caused by their duties as soldiers of the occupation. On the day Ma'ariv visited the village, four ex-members of the Duvdevan (special forces units carrying out arrests and assassinations while disguised as Arabs) checked in.

"They joined the most elite of units, full of motivation," wrote Ma'ariv. "They served terms of three years and more, fought in the hardest battles of the Intifada, but also had to face the civilian Palestinian population. Now that they have been discharged the difficulties are exposed, the personal problems and crises, the self-flagellation. The magnitude of the phenomenon is frightening. Dozens of them went on backpacking trips to the Far East where they became addicted to drugs, including hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Some tried to commit suicide."

"When we started a year and eight months ago, we had the intention of treating those backpacker soldiers returning from India, Thailand and other places in a condition of total collapse, apathetic and with no grasp of reality," said Israeli army reserve lieutenant-colonel Omri Frish, a social worker by training who organized the village. "We were staggered by the number of calls we got. We got more then 900 calls from parents with very painful stories of sons becoming drug addicts, trying to commit suicide and generally emotionally distressed," he told Ma'ariv. "Many of these were veterans of the most prestigious elite units such as Sayeret Matkal, the Naval Commandos, Duvdevan and Duchifat."

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/265/horrorsofwar.shtml

Also there are high rates of substance abuse among police and EMTs.

http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2005/02/police-and-ptsd.html

In fact we now know even more. Police in some jurisdictions are being trained to look for signs of PTSD in the populace they police in order to better help keep the peace. Some markers that stand out in children are abuse of legal and illegal drugs. Cocaine. Alcohol. Heroin. Pot.

The Western New York Rural Mental Health Partnership advises police that " 'self medication' with alcohol or illegal drugs is a common complication found in adolescents with mental health problems."

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health says "Youths who suffer from PTSD frequently use alcohol or other drugs to 'self-medicate' in an attempt to dull painful memories or psychological torment."

Thanks for the follow up.