Report: Defense faces large and growing mental health problem

[unhappycamper]

Report: Defense faces large and growing mental health problem
By Bob Brewin
December 6, 2010

During the past decade, 767,290 active-duty military personnel have received a diagnosis of a mental health disorder, according to a series of reports expected to be released today by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center in Silver Spring, Md. Overall, from January 2000 through December 2009, such diagnoses increased 60 percent.

The center also reported that mental health disorders rank as the top cause of hospitalization for male service members and the second cause of hospitalization for women after pregnancy-related conditions. The Army topped the number of admissions.

During this period, 94,391 active-duty service members experienced 109,895 mental disorder hospitalizations. The number of hospitalizations remained fairly stable and then sharply increased from 2006 to 2009, with 15,328 hospitalizations in 2009, up 50 percent from 10,262 in 2006.

The Health Surveillance Center said the findings in the four mental health reports in its November Medical Surveillance Monthly Report "document a large and growing mental health problem among U.S. military members." The reports examined five selective disorders from 2007 through 2009, mental health problems across the active component from 2000 through 2009, hospitalizations for mental health, and the relationship between childbirth and mental health diagnoses.

This includes a sharp increase in mental health disorder diagnoses from 78,658 active-duty troops in 2003, or 5.6 percent of the force, to 123,374, or 8.5 percent of the force in 2009, which reflects the increase in troops deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, the report said. This upsurge reflects the "increasing psychological toll" combat operations had on deployed troops, the center said.

[social_critic]

1. I guess we need to shrink the military

They seem to need it. They need to change their paradigm. Hire only mental cases, this way they are already crazy when they ship out, when they get back, they'll be just like they started, and will probably fell better about their lives because they'll bring back all those ear and nose collections, gold teeth, and other souvenirs.

[tigereye]

6. oh, tell me they dont' have ear and nose colections...

:( There must be a healthy way to fight and serve and maintain a sense of sanity and respect for other combatant's humanity,right? Even if they are the enemy. I wonder if it's the type of wars the US fights now, or simply that attitudes were different when my dad was in WWII. (or maybe we just don't hear about the WWII stuff as much.)

[tigereye]

2. Terry Gross interviewed a former Army psychologist a few weeks back who

was talking about the etiology of PTSD in service members and methods used to protect against it. Quite interesting. I got the impression that the military as a whole is more proactive about diagnosis and treatment than it has been in the past, although this may not be the case.

I truly hope that there will be more treatment for these folks than in the past.


:hi: HC! Long time no see! Hope you and yours are well!

[social_critic]

4. There's treatment, I have PTSD

It's not that bad, as long as i don't have anybody with a gun shooting at me, I'm cool. If I get tense, I take a pill. And if I get upset, I just pull out my computer and shoot a bunch of little guys using computer games. The only problem I got is these nightmares, so I just get up and watch the Discovery Science channel or do research on the internet. Last night I read a bunch of stuff about Mars.

[tigereye]

5. iwsh you well- thanks for your service - glad to hear you are able to work

around things.


I can't imagine what it would be like, and I hope everyone is able to get the help that they need and adjust to being back. I also can't believe how long they keep people over there- I think it's reprehensible. I really like that "Doonesbury" has had an ongoing storyline about Vets and their experiences in battle, etc.. I really like the characters in that one.

[nenagh]

3. Those numbers are just tragic, unhappycamper..

The thought of suffering on that scale, is nearly too much for this old heart to contemplate.

And I must add unhappycamper, that those are only the numbers of soldiers that have come forward and admitted they have a problem.. which takes courage and a certain realization to do..

You know I always wondered what the effect on the troops would be when they came to realize that Iraq was a war of choice..

And to be in Afganistan.. and that ghastly dancing boy revelation..

Just to let you know, on this snowy day from Canada, that there are many people who never speak up... but do appreciate your posts..

Thank You, unhappycamper.. :)