04:35 PM PDT on Saturday, August 13, 2005

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Many soldiers leave the battlefield with more than physical wounds. Fighting a war can take its toll on their mental health as well. Now, a new government program may be able to help soldiers coming home from Iraq.

Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD is common.

"The services have recognized that soldiers need a time of decompression after they return home," said John Lee of the Washington state Department of Veteran Affairs.

So since April the Pentagon has required troops to have a psychological review after they return and again three to four months later. It's an effort to prevent what happened to Vietnam vets like Korte Brueckmann. He lived with PTSD for more than 30 years and didn't know it.

"You just stuff everything down and don't think about it and don't talk about it," he said.

He said he didn't get help right away because he didn't think he needed it.

"I got back from Vietnam and got out of the army all at once, and suddenly I was a civilian -- what could possibly be wrong?" he said.

Among U.S. troops returning from Iraq, government researchers found only 3 percent of troops said they have a mental health concern when they first return from Iraq. But when they are asked months later, that number jumps to 17 percent.

"After the newness and the excitement of that wears off, a person is in a different place mentally and therefore is going to give a different set of answers," Lee said.

They are answers that could help soldiers today, instead of years later.

Treatments for PTSD include antidepressants, tranquilizers, stress management training and cognitive behavior therapy.