Vet Suicide Epidemic: New Questions About Military Mental Health Screenings

By now, many Americans know that mental health problems can be crippling for veterans, increasing the risk of divorce, unemployment, even homelessness and suicide. A powerful new CBS report offers a dire warning:

"Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror... [have] the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age."

This shocking data only highlights the tremendous need for quick action to treat troops' mental health problems. PTSD is treatable, especially if it's caught early.

Unfortunately, the Department of Defense's system for screening troops -- a bunch of paperwork followed by a phone call -- doesn't catch most of the people who will need treatment. We vets have known this for years. This week, an important new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association agreed.

The study looks at the paperwork forms on 88,000 soldiers to see who needed treatment and who actually got care, and came to some disturbing conclusions.

1) Asking a troop just back from Iraq to fill out another form is not the same as screening them for PTSD. The report concludes: "Surveys taken immediately on return from deployment substantially underestimate the mental health burden." That's why it's crucial that troops get mandatory, in-person interviews with a mental health professional. And not just when they come home, but months later, when the long-term effects of combat have had time to become visible.

2) Mental health issues are family issues. In the six months after getting home, there was a four-fold increase in troops' concerns about "interpersonal conflicts" with family and friends. The military needs to do a better job of reaching out to troops' families, so they can help get their loved ones into treatment.

3) National Guardsmen and Reservists are facing a special set of issues, and their concerns need to get heard. 42.4 percent of National Guardsmen and Reservists were identified as needing mental health treatment, compared to 20.3 percent of the active duty. These troops are more likely to have family and financial problems result from their deployment, and when they get home, they go straight back to work in a civilian job. No wonder they have higher rates of stress. We need to get them the care they need, starting with stronger job protections and better family support for deploying reserve troops.

4) Troops need more time to access care. Far more troops admitted a mental health problem when interviewed after six months than when they just got home. Of those who received a referral for mental health treatment, 39 percent still had not seen a mental health professional 90 days after their second interview. That's nine months after their return. The military and the VA need to prepare for the time-lag between troops coming home and their entry into the mental health care system.

As the authors of the JAMA study conclude, there is an "enormous opportunity" for the military to "intervene early before soldiers leave active duty." We know the consequences if we fail to act. The only question is whether we have the political will to help these heroes before it's too late.

Next Thanksgiving, I hope we can all be thankful for the action Washington took on this critical issue.

Comments

[radmul]

Under both Clinton and Bush 2 the budget for the military increased for weapons systems while spending on benefits for health and welfare for the troops evaporated. Mental health care in America is given a low priority and mental illness is stigmatized by the religious pull yourself up by your bootstraps crowd as a character flaw. We can address this in the next election cycle by voting for Kucinich.

[Halsey]

I'm posting a "site"..that is one among many..undiscussed by MSM...pundits of the war, etc. So much waste...please read yet another...small town America..Lovell, WY..a young man, who...well...just read it..and know this..which is not in the story...this veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq....sought help...in a small town...got none... how do I know? It's my cousin's nephew.(if the post doesn't work..just google.. Lovell, WY murder suicide)

http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=64945397589746579

[lgillooly]

Let the American people know the truth. Republican Senators do NOT vote for the troops and Veterans issues they need. Bobgeiger.com did a study on Senate votes and the R'S failed dismally. The only way we can really help our veterans is vote Democrat.
Sadly, the MSM has told us for yrs. the opposite,but the truth must be known..please!!

[Earl]

"New Pentagon figures released to NPR show that since the United States invaded Iraq, officers have kicked out far more troops for having behavior issues that are potentially linked to post-traumatic stress disorder than they did before the war."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16330374

Apparently the army is kicking soldiers out (thereby denying VA benefits) for infractions that are classic PTSD symptoms.

[LazyLearner]

"Veterans aged 20 through 24"

First, is there not something strange about that sentence: 20-year-old-veteran, veteran at 20?
Remember your 20s folks! how were you at that age?

I think PTSD is not an illness, its a logic consequence of sending young people facing horror of war (and your imagination cannot in anyway recreate the smell of burned flesh) , furthermore for questionable reasons, then coming back home and people saying "it's OK boy" Anybody would turn mad!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D0mCydl8KP0

The only cure is Truth

(unless you have some shares in the pharma)

[MRb1000]

The only time anyone thinks about veterans is in time of war. When the war is over or they can no longer be use, then they turn the backs on them. You walk pass many of them on the street with no where to go because the can not coupe with there own demons inside. When it come down to passing bills for the veterans, the rest of America falls asleep until war. Then when they come home they are ask to suck it up. Sometime we get tired of those flag waving empty suite that use veterans as back drop. Then place them back inside a closet until the next fight to line there pockets. They do this by adding pork to veterans bill and military pay. They are use as pons in a chest game. It is a shame, but this happen all the time. It is the same old story ever year. When is it going to change.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Here's some resource links on the general
topic of mental health:
http://www.umm.edu/nervous/disorder.htm
http://www.healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=1687
http://www.healthboards.com/brain-and-nervous-system-disorders/
http://www.mhselfhelp.org/
http://www.mental-health-matters.com/selfhelp/index.php
http://www.athealth.com/consumer/shstore/
http://www.psywww.com/resource/selfhelp.htm
http://www.mentalhelp.net/selfhelp/

PTSD-specific:
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Anxiety/anxieties/index.asp
http://www.guidetopsychology.com/ptsd.htm
http://www.giftfromwithin.org/html/articles.html

A TM it's not, but resources that are a place
to start...don't forget the Internets in the
quest for knowledge and information...not
all problems are soluble through gummit programs
etc...

[Freedomfinder]

Paul have you ever met Shad Meshad?I had the pleasure in working with him in 79 when we were at the Brenwood VA.He pioneered treating PTSD and created hundreds of independent store front centers through out the country.I believe he could be of great help as he is the first vet to have accomplished this.
Have a Great Thanksgiving!

[ThomasDoubting]

Use them once and throw them away, there is a new generation coming along. With all these suicides that are occurring among the recent vets, there will be less young men and women begging on the streets That is the attitude of the regime running this country. Thirty years ago, as Viet Nam vets were returning, our government, under Reagan, shut down mental health facilities across the country. This is when I first observed homelessness, involving men, women, children, and entire families. In this bare knuckles capitalism of the last several years, there is nowhere to go for help. In the nineties the Clintons, with help of their Republican friends eliminated the so called welfare system. There is a class war going on, tax cuts for the filthy rich, and prison, the military, or the streets, for the poor. Tell me again, how does this war benefit me?
posted 11/21/2007 at 12:46:07

[research]

Am I wrong? The Vietnam vets I know all benefited from telling their stories. Don't be afraid to ask them what happened there.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Tell em not to kill themselves, but start
reading and get busy living the rest of their
lives!



http://www.impeachbush.org

[jrockbg]

As Mr. Rieckhoff can likely tell you, it's hard to describe the enormous and numerous beauracracies that govern social services for veterans. The saddest issue is, money cannot fix the problem. The modus operandi by which a serviceperson gets care was designed to operate in a time of peace. With so many forces constantly deploying, the current system cannot meet the demand. While you could not classify me as against the war, I'd agree the administration certainly made huge errors in executing it. One of the biggest errors was not immediately getting more funds to assist Veterans Affairs to deal with the effects on soldiers. While I cannot stand him, John Edwards did speak earlier this week about this issue. He proposed a plan letting troops seek psychiatric care outside the VA and in the private sector. While I'm sure he had no better way to fund this other than a tax increase, he did address an issue no other candidate has specifically touched. So if you plan on voting Democrat (certainly not me) you might consider Edwards.

[Dap]

Dear Paul,

Thank you SOoooooo much for looking out for our brave Women and Men who are and have served with distinction. Happy Thanksgiving all that serve and to you and yours Paul. Agape.

[Rabbin]

As I recall over the years of past wars many troops came home with mental problems. I know of how those I knew and relatives whom had been in wars as far back a WWII, and Korea as well as the nightmares for troopers who came back from Vietnam.

The problem has always been the ignored left over costs of every war that was seen as an end results of every war! Here's some common since facts, when we send good men and women out to learn to kill and be killed we also instill or teach lasting affects that lead to both violent and self destructive behavior.

Our politicians and military are so entwined within offence and defence they forget that the costs for such is more than just for bullets and food to feed the troops who we send out to kill! So we also must pay for the costs to see to it they come back as normal mentally healthy men and women!

Oh when shall mankind learn the logic of "Thou Shalt Not Kill"?

[Vajara]

Paul, thank you for keeping these issues up front so that American people, or at least those of us who read your column, can know what is happening with our soldiers and their families. The Administration and leadership of congress have failed miserably to take the right actions to support and remove our troops from harms way--from this miserable religious war in the middle east.