US soldiers who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder that manifests in various illnesses such as headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, and chronic pain. Just as they heavily depended on their high-powered ammunition, so are they heavily dependent on prescription pills such as antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication, sleeping pills, and painkillers.

It has been found that ‘prescription pill dependency among American troops is on the rise.’ In fact, the ‘Pentagon has increasingly relied on prescription drugs to keep its warriors on the front lines.’ The US Army mental-health survey reveals some facts: approximately 12% of soldiers in Iraq and 15% of those in Afghanistan admitted taking these prescription medications. Prescription for painkillers has even been on the upswing.

Soldiers with high-tech firepower at their disposal are on prescription drugs some of which can lead a user to psychosis when the medication is abruptly stopped for reasons such as unavailability of these medicines. Another risk is sending back to war those soldiers who had been dependent on these medications. According to Judith Broder, M. D., psychiatrist and founder of the Soldiers Project, a group that helps service members suffering from mental illness, “There are risks in putting people back to battle with medicines in their bodies.”

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Via msnbc/commercialappeal.com