--- title: Many Vietnam Vets Still Have PTSD 40 Years After the Vietnam War description: More than 200,000 veterans who served in the Vietnam War have full post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study canonical: https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-22T15:36:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:27.532Z article:section: Health og:title: More Than 200,000 Vietnam Vets Have PTSD 40 Years Later og:description: More than 200,000 veterans who served in the Vietnam War have full post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study og:url: https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta355b294496e27a7/69885bf3e20a878526a8c612/vietnam-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: American flag Vietnam Veterans Memorial og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Than 200,000 Vietnam Vets Have PTSD 40 Years Later twitter:description: More than 200,000 veterans who served in the Vietnam War have full post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta355b294496e27a7/69885bf3e20a878526a8c612/vietnam-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More Than 200,000 Vietnam Vets Still Have PTSD ## Video: Healing Bobby [Watch (HLS stream): Healing Bobby](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uQA7elZ3.m3u8) (9:34)  _Published 2013-10-24. Directed by Peter van Agtmael, the latest Red Border Film tells the story of an Iraq War veteran turned comic who has made his injuries a part of his comedy_  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 22, 2015 3:36 PM UTC  American flag by The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. American flag by The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 22, 2015 3:36 PM UTC Many veterans who served in the Vietnam War still have war-zone-related post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new [study](http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0803) published in _JAMA Psychiatry_. The researchers, led by Dr. Charles R. Marmar, of the New York University Langone Medical Center, wanted to look at the prevalence of PTSD over time. Thanks to the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study, a study of PTSD in Vietnam vets done more than 25 years ago, they had historic data on the prevalence of PTSD; they conducted a follow-up to the study by gathering new data from the 1,450 veterans who were still alive and willing to participate in another round of PTSD assessments. From 2012-2013, researchers gathered from each vet a self-report health questionnaire, a telephone health survey or a clinical interview by phone. (Some vets participated in two or all three of the measures.) **MORE**: [Meet 15 Extraordinary Wounded Warriors Who Are Stronger Than Ever](http://time.com/wounded-warriors/) The team determined that even now—40 years after the war ended—about 271,000 Vietnam vets have full war-zone-related PTSD plus war-zone PTSD that meets some diagnostic criteria. More than a third of the veterans who have current war-zone PTSD also have major depressive disorder. **MORE**: [“Hidden Wounds”: Battling PTSD With Music](http://time.com/3595594/hidden-wounds-battling-ptsd-with-music/) Men who served in the Vietnam war had a war-zone-related PTSD prevalence of 4.5%; when factoring in vets who met some of the criteria, that number climbed to almost 11%. For women veterans, those prevalences were about 6% and 9%, respectively. “An important minority of Vietnam veterans are symptomatic after four decades, with more than twice as many deteriorating as improving,” the study authors write. “Policy implications include the need for greater access to evidence-based mental health services; the importance of integrating mental health treatment into primary care in light of the nearly 20 percent mortality; attention to the stresses of aging, including retirement, chronic illness, declining social support and cognitive changes that create difficulties with the management of unwanted memories; and anticipating challenges that lie ahead for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/"},"headline":"More Than 200,000 Vietnam Vets Still Have PTSD","datePublished":"2015-07-22T15:36:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:27.532Z","description":"New research reveals considerable PTSD in some vets, even decades after war","url":"https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/","keywords":["Depression","Veterans","PTSD","Mental Illness","Mental Health/Psychology","Vietnam War","Vets"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta355b294496e27a7/69885bf3e20a878526a8c612/vietnam-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta355b294496e27a7/69885bf3e20a878526a8c612/vietnam-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"American flag Vietnam Veterans Memorial","caption":"American flag Vietnam Veterans Memorial","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/","name":"More Than 200,000 Vietnam Vets Still Have PTSD"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Healing Bobby","description":"Directed by Peter van Agtmael, the latest Red Border Film tells the story of an Iraq War veteran turned comic who has made his injuries a part of his comedy","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uQA7elZ3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-10-24T15:13:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uQA7elZ3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/","duration":"PT9M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3967590/vietnam-veterans-ptsd/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```