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I am writing in reference to the USA Today article "Study: Deployment affects wives’ mental health" in Stars and Stripes’ Jan. 15 edition.

As the family readiness group leader for an Army Reserve unit, I was intrigued by the report on this study for obvious reasons.

We have many volunteers who try to help families with deployed spouses, plus take care of their own family, and who deal with this stress every day. Our families have many of the problems that the study discusses: acute stress, sleep disorder, depression, anxiety disorder. I could probably name a few more that the survey does not cover.

I guess what I would like to know is, why is this survey important? You are probably shocked to hear me ask this, but hear me out.

This survey doesn’t tell me anything that I don’t already know. I have asked many families who do not have deployed spouses and they tell me they could have figured that information out on their own!

There are probably thousands of studies similar to this, and yet our families are still suffering, especially family members of reserve and National Guard units who do not have access to military posts.

So why do we even bother with a study like this if we are not going to truly do something about it?

I am wondering if Stars and Stripes will be doing a follow-up report on this study? Is there going to be more emphasis on getting families the help they need in order to turn these numbers around?

I ask because I am the spouse of a deployed soldier and I would really like to know.

Kimberly DeRoseFayetteville, Ark.

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