[jimmydean]

Mental Health Care Failing At-Risk Troops

The U.S. military is putting already-strained troops at greater risk of mental health problems because of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, a Defense Department panel says in warning of an overburdened health system.

The Defense Department's Task Force on Mental Health chaired by Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur, issued an urgent warning, saying that more than one-third of troops and veterans currently suffer from problems such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. With an escalating Iraq war, those numbers are expected to worsen, and current staffing and money for military health care will not be able to meet the need, the group said in a preliminary report released Thursday.

"The system of care for psychological health that has evolved in recent decades is not sufficient to meet the needs of today's forces and their beneficiaries, and will not be sufficient to meet the needs in the future," the 14-member group says.

The report finds 38 percent of soldiers, more than 30 percent of Marines and nearly 50 percent of National Guard members are returning with signs of post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and other disorders after returning from deployment, reports CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick.

Those numbers are expected to grow because of repeated deployments and extended tours of duty.

Branding Pentagon policies overly conservative and out-of-date, the task force called for more money and a fundamental shift in treatment to focus on prevention and screening — rather than simply relying on soldiers to come forward on their own.

It cited a significant stigma in which soldiers believe they would be ridiculed or their careers damaged if they were to acknowledge having problems.

The four-page summary of findings, which will be incorporated in a final report to Defense Secretary Robert Gates in June, comes amid renewed attention on troop and veterans care following recent disclosures of shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the premier care facility for soldiers in Washington.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says the military must do something about the stigma attached to these problems and upgrade its system for psychological care.

"It's going to be expensive. That's the reality that we have to face. If we're going to run our military as hard as we are right now, we've got to allocate the resources to take care of the people who are in it," Rieckhoff told McCormick.

In recent weeks, several U.S. senators have pointed to problems in the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs' mental health care — citing the Army's Fort Carson in Colorado, where some troops have said their pleas for mental health care went unanswered or were met with ridicule.

In its report, the task force — which visited 38 military bases in the four armed services within the past year — underscored many of the lawmakers' fears. Without citing specific examples, it said soldiers too often do not seek the care they need.

Both the VA and the Pentagon in recent weeks have acknowledged a need to improve mental health treatment. Jan Kemp, a VA associate director for education who works on mental health, has estimated there are up to 1,000 suicides a year among veterans within the VA system, and as many as 5,000 a year among all living veterans.

 

[LOOnatic]

Small price to pay for victory.
Didn't ya hear? Mission accomplished dood

 

[bac]

That article cannot be true. This administration SUPPORTS THE TROOPS! After all, I've heard them state it a million times. lthumbsdown:

... Brad

 

[jimmydean]

The part that stands out to me was:

The report finds 38 percent of soldiers, more than 30 percent of Marines and nearly 50 percent of National Guard members are returning with signs of post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and other disorders after returning from deployment,