Iraq Soldiers Who Killed People Suffer More than Peers, Study Finds

Maguen's paper, which appears in the Journal of Traumatic Stress (as did the last study) surveyed nearly 2,800 soldiers returning from Iraq. Forty percent of them reported they had killed someone or were somehow responsible for killing during their deployment. Even after controlling for combat exposure and injury, the San Francisco VA Medical Center Study found these soldiers were far more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, hostility, anger, and relationship problems.

The upshot of this study (and the last) is that taking a life is not something easily sloughed off -- and specific psychiatric measures regarding killing should be part of soldiers' individual readjustment plans.

"This is a reminder that, in war, the emotional and psychological burden of killing is profound," says Maguen. "We need to recognize and address this burden in order to better help our men and women who have served in the military readjust to life after combat."