Childhood abuse may be the most common cause of PTSD in American women, 10% of whom suffer from PTSD (compared to 5% for men) at some time in their lives,2 but many other types of psychological trauma can cause the disorder -- car accidents, military combat, rape and assault.

Women suffer from PTSD at twice the rate of men? Really? Is that a statistical manipulation from a biased study with an agenda, or actual fact? If actual fact, why would that be? Does it imply that women are weaker, mentally and emotionally, than men? That they have more trouble coping with life and overcoming past trauma than men do? That's unlikely, and I don't think any feminist would ever argue that. Is it because women are far more likely than men to seek out mental health services, especially for issues of sexual abuse or trauma from childhood, and thus are much more likely to be diagnosed? Perhaps that plays a role in skewing the statistics to show such a disparity. Is it because women on average simply suffer more traumatic events in their lives than men, and more severe traumatic events? That seems debatable, although possible. Consider the following:

1) There are a wide range of statistics on sexual abuse out there, but most I've seen in recent years estimate that the percentages of boys and girls who are sexually abused before age 18 are not wildly dissimilar--the broadest consensus seems to be 1 out of 4 girls and 1 out of 6 boys. That's 25 percent versus about 17 percent; a difference, to be sure, but not a huge one.

2) One could plausibly argue that on balance, due to the homophobia of society and all that implies, the sexual abuse of a boy might be expected to cause greater individual trauma than the abuse of a girl (although researchers in recent years have argued that child sex abuse committed by women and girls is greatly underreported, it remains true that the majority of sex abuse of boys is committed by men or older boys.)

3) Sexual abuse of adults is overwhelmingly, but not exclusively a concern of women in the civilian population, but the picture changes when correctional institutions are taken into account. Research in recent years (e.g. see the organization Stop Prisoner Rape for details) has indicated that the number of men and boys who are sexually assaulted in jails, prisons, and juvenile detention facilities in the US every year may actually equal or even surpass the number of civilian women who suffer sexual assault. Even if their statistics are watered down by some 50%, it's still a huge number and suggests that the disparity in sexual assault victimization by gender among adults is nowhere near as large as was once thought.

4) As mentioned previously, given the homophobia of society, with the addition of the serious violence, gang attacks, and serial nature of abuse that often accompany sexual abuse behind bars, it can plausibly be argued that in general, the sexual assault of an adult male might be expected to cause greater individual trauma than the sexual assault of an adult woman. As with # 2 above, this is a general point and allows for plenty of individual case exceptions.

5) Boys are significantly more likely in the US to suffer from physical, emotional, and psychological abuse and neglect than are girls. Leaving aside sexual abuse, which I discussed above, boys comprise the majority of child abuse victims, and certainly the large majority of victims of severe child abuse (boys are considerably more likely than girls to be killed by a parent, to take the extreme example.)

6) Males comprise the great majority of violent crime victims, absent sexual assault which I discussed above. They are assaulted, beaten up, robbed, shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, and poisoned more than females--often with far more frequency (look at the national victim stats on aggravated assault, for example.)

7) Women are at much greater risk of domestic violence, and serious injury from DV, although plenty of studies over the years have demonstrated that men are DV victims and suffer injury from DV far more frequently than had been previously believed.

8) Men are in more serious accidents of all types than are women--whether they be auto, bike, home, work, near drownings, etc. Men more frequently flirt with death due to such accidents, and more frequently suffer injury or disability than women from them. The great majority of people suffering from traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries, paraplegia, quadraplegia, etc. are male.

9) Combat and dangerous military service go without saying: With few exceptions, nearly all of the military personnel engaged in combat or designated hazardous duties are male, although admittedly the support and supply positions that women typically fill in places like Iraq can be quite dangerous.

So, we have females at greater risk from sexual assault and domestic violence (with the important qualifications noted above), but males at greater risk in all other types of incidents that can precipitate PTSD. So again I ask, what explains the claim that women suffer from PTSD at twice the rate of men?

Oh, and the part I left off my last post...if 16 percent of the female population of the USA really did equal 40 million people, then the female population of the USA would be approximately 250 million, which would translate into a total US population of around 500 million--some 200 million (or 66%) HIGHER than the actual figure.

I really wish I could introduce you to the female JAG that is less than 100 meters from my shop. She is a full bird navy captain, and you would be impressed (I sure as hell as was). She could go into great detail about all that the military is doing to combat the current rape/sexual assault problems we have had out in the field. She would also tell you that we have a pretty high conviction rate in ragards to rapists, much higher than what we have in the civilian world.

The rules, policies, training, guidelines, and laws are not the problem.

The military mind frame and mentality, and what combat does to the human psyche is. Believe me, if I knew of anyone that had raped or sexually assualted another servicemen, I would report them immediately.

However, you are right in your concern about the PTSS treatment problems the military is having, but they don't just affect female servicemen, they affect all servicemen.

If you want a tour, I could probably give you one.