War stress heavier on women

In a war marked by the most female troops ever to face daily combat, women service members appear to experience war differently from men, according to a Defense Department health questionnaire that tests the mental stability of half a million returning troops.
The post-deployment questionnaire -- the first health analysis administered during a war -- shows that serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may have harmed women's health more than men's and that a greater percentage of women see wounded and dead bodies and report having nightmares. More men fired their weapons and felt they were in danger of being killed.
Defense Department officials say the gap stems from the different roles women and men are still assigned to serve in war today, but soldiers point to differences between the sexes and a reluctance on the part of troops to be honest with the government.
"Women are more likely to be in support roles, especially medical roles," said Col. Joyce Adkins, the Defense Department's program director for operational stress and deployment mental health. "They would be more likely to see people who are wounded or dead if they are serving in medical function than if they are discharging their weapons."