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New research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is changing the way it was perceived by the scientists. According to the latest study, PTSD can also spike after 5-years of leaving the battlefield even when the levels of PTSD may have declined, according to a Reuters report. This indicates that the soldiers may still require screening for PTSD, long after they have returned from their deployment as the disorder may still be present in its dormant state before recurring.

The study was conducted with a goal to gain deeper understanding of the posttraumatic stress complaints and its changes, long after deployment. The ultimate objective of the study was to analyze the increase in demand after deployment, Iris Eekhout of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the lead author on the study, said in an interview with Reuters. For the purpose of the study, 1,007 Dutch soldiers were examined who had been deployed between 2005 and 2008 to Afghanistan. It was found that the levels of PTSD increased six months after they returned home and then again unexpectedly after five years of deployment. The levels remained normal for about a year in between these periods, reported BABW News.

So far, the studies have only focused on the short-term impact of its health effects. PTSD impact up to 20% of war veterans from Iraq. PTSD is an enervating condition where the soldiers are unable to conduct their daily functions and go through series of traumatic events, feel fear, shame and are burdened by flashbacks. Brown University recently warned that the research is at a very nascent stage due of lack of resources for the non-veterans inflicted by PTSD. "For the other people affected by PTSD - victims of sexual assault, child abuse and natural disasters - there really isn't an organized body of research that generates guidance for how they and their caregivers should deal with their PTSD," said Judith Bentkover in a statment. Bentkover is the lead author of the study and a professor of the practice in the Brown University School of Public Health and executive and academic director of the Executive Masters in Healthcare Leadership degree program. "We know that gender, race, and culture affect how people deal with anxiety, said Reuters.