Veterans' reactions to release of American hostages

Soon after the return of the hostages from Iran, the staff of the Mental Health Clinic of the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic, Santa Barbara, California, began noting an unusual association between veterans' feelings and the attention given the returning hostages. Of 100 veterans referred at random for diagnosis and treatment, not one had positive feelings about the reception given the returning hostages; 34 viewed the festivities and proclamations of welcome as excessive and unfair, and 12 expressed violent feelings toward the hostages, media people or members of the government. Of these 100 veterans, 52 expressed anxiety and excessive irritability, 41 were having psychic symptoms of depression and 38 reported sexual disturbances. This unusual form of stress had activated long-dormant feelings in veterans of four different wars and several generations.