The White House: An International Approach to Military Mental Health

Posted by Rosye Cloud on October 03, 2012 at 10:24 AM EDT

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has been one of the most significant issues our  military has faced --- and we are not alone. Last week, the United States came together with representatives from Canada and the United Kingdom to address military mental health.  Ensuring the mental health and wellness of our  servicemembers, veterans and their families is a cause that unites all of us.

The event sends a strong message to our military, our veterans and  all Americans, that we as a nation, and our partners around the world, are serious about addressing these concerns. This event brought together leaders from the government, non-profit, and private  sectors, all committed to the same goal --- tending  to the invisible wounds that many service members too often endure in silence.

Many of the best thinkers from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom came together, not simply to discuss “what’s wrong” but also to share best practices and to chart a course for addressing these shared issues.The symposium included academics, clinicians, researchers, policy makers, foundations, veteran service organizations, national leaders and, of course, servicemembers, veterans and family members.

As leaders and experts took the stage to address a host of issues and convey a  variety of perspectives, common themes and challenges emerged. Chief among them was the need to enhance access to quality mental health services. There was common agreement that we must expand the capacity of those services so all who need care can get it in a timely manner, and in a setting that is relevant to their individual needs. Continued work is needed to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health issues in general, and strong efforts are needed to eliminate false perceptions that seeking treatment will cast a shadow on the military member or their family. Additionally, thorough research continues to be conducted, and we must leverage that research into methods of treatment that have a lasting impact. Addressing these important issues  will benefit not only the military but, as is often the case, the entire  country.

It’s all hands on deck. We must continue to work together to address faulty perceptions surrounding military mental health. Many myths become barriers to care. For example, surveys discussed indicated that the public believes there is a very high rate of mental health issues for those who have deployed. In fact, about 4 in 5 service members do not experience serious mental health issues --- and of those who do, 88% can continue their duties with no alteration, even while in treatment.

The resilience the vast majority of military members display is remarkable. Their ability to contribute to the workforce, their communities and their families is indeed strong.

In August, President Obama signed an Executive Order that strengthens our ongoing commitment to military mental health, "I know that you join me in saying to everyone who’s ever worn the uniform—if you’re hurting, it’s not a sign of weakness to seek help, it’s a sign of strength."  That theme is not only resonant in the United States, it is embraced by our allies as well.

By collaborating with our international partners, we will continue to strengthen the advancements we have already made, and new treatments will come to fruition as we continue to address military mental health as a collective body.

Rosye Cloud is the Director of Policy for Veterans, Wounded Warriors and Military Families

Helping Female Veterans with Nowhere to Turn

By Alanna Durkin - Medill News Service

In August 2005, Army Lt. Jas Boothe had one thing on her mind: getting herself - and the son she was raising on her own - ready for her deployment to Iraq.

But a phone call and a doctor’s visit a few weeks later changed everything. Boothe, who was 28 at the time, learned her home had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Soon after that, she was diagnosed with cancer in her head, neck and throat.

“So, now there is no deployment, there is no home and now I’m facing losing my military career, which is how I take care of my child,” she said in a recent interview.

She began to research housing options. The Veterans Affairs Department referred her to social services, where she was told she qualified for welfare and food stamps.

“There were a ton of services, housing facilities for men, but someone had forgotten about the women,” she said. “Our sacrifice was not equated to that of the males’ sacrifice, and that was shown in the level of services that we didn’t have.”

After 30 radiation treatments and two surgeries, the military cleared Boothe for duty. Now a captain in the Army National Guard, she was able to stay in the military, afford a home and support her son. But her experience taught her that there were likely other women veterans with nowhere to turn.

It is impossible to determine the exact number of female veterans who are homeless, according to a 2011 Government Accountability Office report. But one indicator is the number of female veterans who seek VA services, which doubled from 1,380 in 2006 to 3,328 in 2010.

VA has made it a goal to end veteran homelessness by 2015. An estimated 67,495 veterans were homeless on a single night in January 2011, a 12 percent drop from the year before, according to VA.

But the number is expected to grow as more service members return from Afghanistan over the next two years.

A LACK OF OPTIONS

VA has developed many programs to combat homelessness among veterans. The Grant and Per Diem Program provides funding to community groups that offer veteran services and housing, and the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program gives veterans vouchers for housing.

Yet these programs have significant limitations and problems when it comes to serving women, according to the GAO report.

The GAO found that more than 60 percent of the GPD housing for women either does not allow children or limits the number or ages of children accepted. Housing and service providers are also not compensated for the cost of housing children, creating a financial disincentive to accept families, according to the report.

The report also pointed to instances of unsafe living conditions for women and their families. “Nine of the 142 GPD programs we surveyed indicated that there had been reported incidents of sexual harassment or assault on women residents in the past 5 years,” wrote Daniel Bertoni, GAO’s director of education, work force and income safety issues.

Many homeless female veterans are single mothers, leaving them with nowhere to go if they cannot find housing that also allows their children, said Boothe, who started Final Salute Inc. to give female veterans somewhere to go. She runs a six-bedroom transitional home in Fairfax, Va., for five women and two children.

VA declined comment for this story........ Read More Here

For Immediate Help, Resources & More Information Please Visit:

http://nchv.org/index.php/help/help/immediate_help/

http://www.finalsaluteinc.org/

http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/for_women_veterans.asp

http://www.nchv.org/index.php/help/help/locate_organization/

http://www.nchv.org/

http://www.va.gov/homeless/

http://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash.asp

Have Things Improved? We Want to Hear From You! Sound Off: Housing Scarce for Homeless Female Veterans

By Eric Tucker and Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 8, 2012 16:27:20 EDT

MANUEL BALCE CENETA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:

Homeless veteran Misha Mclamb is seen in her transition home in Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington 

WASHINGTON — Misha McLamb helped keep fighter jets flying during a military career that took her halfway around the world to the Persian Gulf. But back home, the Navy aircraft specialist is barely getting by after a series of blows that undid her settled life.

She was laid off from work last year and lost custody of her daughter. She’s grappled with alcohol abuse, a carry-over from heavy-drinking Navy days. She spent nights in her car before a friend’s boyfriend wrecked it, moving later to a homeless shelter where the insulin needles she needs for her diabetes were stolen. She now lives in transitional housing for homeless veterans — except the government recently advised occupants to leave because of unsafe building conditions.

“I wasn’t a loser,” McLamb, 32, says. “Everybody who’s homeless doesn’t necessarily have to have something very mentally wrong with them. Some people just have bad circumstances with no resources.”

Once primarily problems for male veterans, homelessness and economic struggles are escalating among female veterans, whose numbers have grown during the past decade of U.S. wars while resources for them haven’t kept up. The population of female veterans without permanent shelter has more than doubled in the last half-dozen years and may continue climbing now that the Iraq war has ended, sending women home with the same stresses as their male counterparts — plus some gender-specific ones that make them more susceptible to homelessness.

The problem, a hurdle to the Obama administration’s stated goal of ending veterans’ homelessness by 2015, is exacerbated by a shortage of temporary housing specifically designed to be safe and welcoming to women or mothers with children. The spike comes even as the overall homeless veteran population has dropped by 12 percent in the last two years to about 67,500, officials say.

“It can’t get any worse,” McLamb says matter-of-factly, “’Cause I’ve already been through hell.”

Veterans’ homelessness, the subject of a March congressional hearing, has received fresh attention amid government reports documenting the numbers and identifying widespread flaws in buildings that shelter veterans......

More Here: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2012/04/ap-housing-scarce-homeless-women-veterans-040812/

DoD to Host Caregivers Conference in 2013

By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 14, 2012 7:16:24 EDT

The Defense Department will hold a conference next year to discuss issues facing military caregivers, a senior defense official announced Thursday.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Warrior Care Policy John Campbell said the Pentagon will bring together Defense Department caregiver program personnel, military and veteran service organizations, the private sector, and caregivers — spouses, parents, family or friends who help a service member following an illness or injury — to address the caregiver community’s needs.

Campbell made the announcement during the 2012 Warrior and Family Symposium sponsored by the Military Officers Association of American and the National Defense Industrial Association.

“I’ve been worried and concerned for a while about caregivers … the sisters, the brothers, the spouses, who really need our support,” Campbell said.

His remarks came after Annette Slaydon, the wife of a seriously injured Air Force explosive ordnance technician, told an audience of her husband’s struggles with his family, which doesn’t understand his post-traumatic stress disorder and recovery, and their marriage, left in shambles by their changed relationship.

“There’s no instruction booklet on how you move forward. There’s nothing that talks about how your relationship changes from that of a husband and wife to that of a patient and caregiver … and you wake up one morning and you wonder how it happened,” Slaydon said.

More than 49,000 service members have received physical wounds in Iraq or Afghanistan and as many as 300,000 may have personality changes related to multiple concussions or mental health issues such as combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.

During recovery, which often takes months or years — and for some, a lifetime — troops and veterans often rely on family members or friends to assist with tasks ranging from basic needs, such as bathing and feeding, to activities like managing their finances, coordinating medical appointments, securing jobs and regaining independence.

READ MORE HERE: http://militarytimes.com/news/2012/09/military-dod-to-host-2013-caregivers-conference-091412w/

Vets Benefits to be Exempt from Sequestration

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 14, 2012 16:11:36 EDT

Veterans’ disability and education benefits, health care and counseling are all exempt from sequestration, according to a Friday report from the White House that spells out the harm that awaits defense and non-defense programs if a way isn’t found to avoid the across-the-board budget cuts.

In a good news/bad news report to Congress, the White House said it has determined the entire Veterans Affairs Department budget is exempt from sequestration, a decision that answers nagging questions about whether VA might still be at risk for administrative cuts that would have forced layoffs, pay reductions and travel bans.

The bad news for veterans is what happens to programs outside VA. In reviewing the report, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee staff found that funding for Arlington National Cemetery, the American Battle Monuments Commission that oversees cemeteries overseas, and the Labor Department’s Veterans Employment and Training Service would all see their budgets cut under sequestration......

READ MORE HERE:

http://militarytimes.com/news/2012/09/military-sequestration-budget-cuts-veterans-affairs-091412w/

Tough talk by Marine commandant complicates sexual-assault cases

By MICHAEL DOYLE

McClatchy Newspapers

Published: September 14, 2012

Gen. James Amos

COURTESY OF THE U.S. MARINE CORPS

WASHINGTON - The Marine Corps commandant wanted to snuff out rape in the ranks. However, his well-meaning but overly blunt talk instead complicated Marine sexual-assault cases worldwide and raised troubling questions about whether accused Marines will get a fair shake.

This week, for the second time in recent months, a Marine Corps trial judge found that Gen. James F. Amos' forceful remarks on sexual assault earlier this year presented the appearance of unlawful command influence.

Command influence can severely hinder the military justice system, where facts are found and fates determined by people who are drilled to obey their superiors.

So on Marine Corps bases from Twentynine Palms in California to Parris Island in South Carolina and beyond, defense attorneys are quietly but persistently challenging a system that they fear could be stacked against them. Already, some have secured additional trial help.

The commandant, a four-star general, has been compelled to answer a judge's written questions under oath. Conceivably, some cases could be dropped altogether, an ironic and unintended consequence of the Marine leadership's aggressive anti-rape stance.

"Our cases, particularly our sexual-assault cases, are being tried under intense scrutiny from both within and outside the Marine Corps," Col. John Baker, the chief defense counsel of the Marine Corps, said in an email Thursday.

READ MORE HERE

Military Veterans' College Benefits are Running Late

By JENNIFER FEEHAN 

The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade/MCT

Published: September 1, 2012

BOWLING GREEN -- Army veteran Kyle Birkholz has attended classes for two weeks at Bowling Green State University without books.

He learned Friday that his book stipend from the Department of Veterans Affairs would not arrive as expected, nor would his monthly housing allowance.

A glitch at the VA means the check is not in the mail for Mr. Birkholz and countless other veterans across Ohio who receive benefits to attend college.

"This is a very anxiety-producing event in students' lives," said Barbara Henry, assistant vice president of nontraditional and transfer student services at BGSU. "The very beginning of the semester, they're trying to figure out what the work load is like, particularly if they're a new student transitioning, they may have been in Afghanistan in May, they're in university for the first time in September."

While the VA tries to iron out the problem, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other state officials are urging colleges and universities to be flexible with student veterans so that none is penalized or forced to drop classes because of late payments.

BGSU, for its part, is cutting checks for all of its student veterans -- short-term loans with no interest, fees, or lengthy applications.

Mr. Birkholz, an athletic-training major from Clyde, Ohio, said he planned to take BGSU up on its offer."I'm going to have to. I need books," he said. "This really made me feel relieved."

The VA said Friday that "a system programming error" occurred when the agency was moving Ohio and West Virginia claims to St. Louis from Buffalo. The agency said it believed the glitch affected "potentially 300 Ohio and West Virginia students" whose college enrollments were received between July 24 and Aug. 9.

Area universities said the problem appears more widespread to them.

In a letter to area legislators, Bowling Green President Mary Ellen Mazey said the university believes "the vast majority of our 284 student veterans will not receive their basic monthly housing allowance or semester book stipends on time."

Those 284 students -- 32 of whom are at the Firelands campus near Huron, Ohio -- were notified by email that optional emergency loans were being made available. They were invited to meetings Friday on campus, where officials explained the situation and fielded questions.

Ms. Henry said affected students could pick up checks between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in Room 110 of the Administration Building.

Students will be required to sign a promissory note, agreeing to repay the university once the VA checks arrive.

Geoff Roberts, an Army veteran from Port Huron, Mich., who did two tours of duty in Iraq, said he is to receive a $1,047 monthly housing allowance and a book stipend of up to $1,000 for the school year at BGSU. Because he has a part-time job on campus and savings, he doubts he'll need the loan, but he's pleased that BGSU is offering it.

"As a student I can't believe how quickly this whole process went through. It's huge," said Mr. Roberts, president of the BGSU Student Veterans' Club.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/military-veterans-college-benefits-are-running-late-1.187743

Wyo. National Guard Gets Stress Training (Combating Suicides)

By JAMES CHILTON 

Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Published: September 2, 2012

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Army National Guard is arming its troops with a new weapon: a skills set to cope with the stresses of military life.

According to media reports, suicides in the Army have outnumbered combat deaths this year. That statistic serves as a stirring reminder of the importance of not only post-traumatic support but of proper mental and emotional conditioning, said Lt. Col. Samuel E. House of the Wyoming Guard.

"Military suicides have long been an issue within the military," House said. "The idea behind resilience training is to minimize that - as well as address other issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Army has offered resilience training, formerly called "battle-mind training" for several years. But, House said, it was only recently that the Army began to mandate that specific numbers of troops go through it.

Those troops, he said, can then use the lessons they've learned to help other soldiers cope with the day-to-day stresses of military life, such as the disconnect that can sometimes occur between military and civilian life.

"It's designed to look at the cultural aspect of it, not just the combat piece of it," House said. "There are just as many suicides among those who have deployed versus those who have not deployed. Marital problems, it's the same thing."

It's not uncommon for soldiers to assume a pessimistic disposition, whether it's due to the violence they witness overseas or whether they're coping with being separated from family and loved ones, House tells the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Others can cope with military life but may have a hard time readjusting to civilian life, where responsibilities and expectations may be different than previously.

"Individuals who have done their four years or eight years or 20 years, it's interesting to see: Some people get out and go off and are very successful, other individuals, it's all they know," he said. "Particularly within the National Guard, before you deploy you have those (civilian and familial) responsibilities. Then you deploy and for the first two or three months, you feel like you need to be a part of the things at home."

While many soldiers are eventually able to accept their new roles, House said once they do return, they have to adjust to family life all over again.

At the same time, a soldier's spouse may have settled into his or her own new routine, which they then have to alter once the soldier returns home.

For that reason, one of the big focuses of the resilience training is getting soldiers to consider more than just the worst-case scenario.

All too often, House said, some soldiers may assume they're being cheated on or left behind.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.stripes.com/news/wyo-national-guard-gets-stress-training-1.187787

Female Pilots Few, But Proud!

By AMANDA WILCOX 

The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

Published: September 2, 2012

On May 22, 1912, 1st Lt. Alfred Cunningham reported to Annapolis, Md., for duty, marking the birth of Marine Corps aviation. It was another 81 years, in 1993, before 2nd Lt. Sarah Deal was selected as the first female Marine to attend Naval aviation training.

Deal paved the way for the hundreds of female Marines who have since followedMarines like Capt. Andrea Neagle.

As a senior in high school, Neagle watched the twin towers go down on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and like so many other men and women that day, she decided to join the military.

“It just got me thinking about what I was doing with my life and what I was contributing to the country,” she said.

She applied to the U.S. Naval Academy and, to her own astonishment, was accepted. Neagle spent the next four years learning the ins and outs of military service, before finally deciding she wanted to spend her military career as a Marine.

“I always admired the Marines,” Neagle said. “They took pride in their work and it was always about the Marine you were taking care of.”

As for her occupation, like only a few women before her, she decided she wanted to earn her wings as a Marine aviator and MV-22 Osprey pilot.

“I figured, ‘What’s cooler than flying?’” said Neagle, one of about 10 female Osprey pilotsout of a total 400 Osprey pilotscurrently serving in the Marine Corps.

Neagle said like all other pilots, she’s been taught to see herself as a Marine officer first, and a pilot second.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.stripes.com/news/female-pilots-few-but-proud-1.187803

VA Cites Progress on Treating Women Patients

http://1.usa.gov/QOiXBF

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT: Women Veterans Social Justice: Women Veterans Services (Part 1)

Women Veterans Social Justice: Women Veterans Services (Part 1)

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Local Vets Speak Out on Military Sex Assault

BY: Max Freund

Every day for six months in the early ’90s, Joan had daily bouts with her boss, fending off unwanted sexual advances in his tiny, broom closet of an office.

“He would call me into his office and would push me into the corner” and then sexually assault her, said the former Army specialist whose boss, a sergeant first class, also outranked her at the military hospital where they worked.

Joan, who now works in Iowa City and goes by an alias to share her story, is a survivor of military sexual trauma, or MST. The latter is the military classification for sexual assault and harassment.

It’s a widespread problem. According to annual reports, the Department of Defense lists 3,192 reports of sexual assault in fiscal 2011, up from 2,688 in fiscal 2007. The Pentagon’s sexual assault prevention and response office estimates, however, that only 13.5 percent of incidents in the ranks are reported.

The documentary “The Invisible War,” which is being screened Friday at The Englert Theatre in Iowa City, is attempting to open the Pandora’s box on the seldom-discussed issue.

Local survivors

Joan and Brigid, both in their early 40s, did not know each other during their military careers, but today the friends use pseudonyms to co-author a blog — Enemy in the Wire — that catalogs their battles with military sexual trauma.

Brigid, a Cedar Rapids resident, said she suffered multiple assaults during her 10 years in the Iowa National Guard. She recalls the details of one when she was a teenager that occurred away from Iowa during active duty for training. Brigid was raped by two fellow trainees.

“I was passed out, drunk, and I woke up to being raped by two men,” Brigid said, recalling that she and a handful of close friends had rented a hotel room for a weekend getaway.

Brigid had gone to bed and thought the door was locked behind her. However, the two men were able to enter the room, lock themselves in and begin assaulting her.

“(My friends) broke the door down,” she said. “They witnessed my rape.”

The two men were training classmates, but neither was part of the group with whom Brigid was on vacation.

Brigid’s friends were able to chase the rapists away and persuaded her to report the incident to the Army’s criminal investigation command. She said reporting led to a six-month battle with military investigators, who forcibly ostracized her from her friends and threatened her with charges of sodomy and other offenses.

“You don’t tell. I broke the rules; I told,” she said. “And that is why a lot of women don’t come forward — because it was your fault anyway. What did you expect when you put on those boots? What did you expect? You want to play in a man’s world, well, you’re going to have to play with the men.”

Brigid eventually dropped her charges and returned to her National Guard post in Iowa, where she said she experienced multiple cases of sexual harassment and another rape by a commanding officer.

Joan had fewer issues with commanding officers and investigators than Brigid, since Joan chose to not come forward with formal complaints.

“Part of it was because it was very embarrassing, and part of it was because I had no proof,” said Joan, adding it would have been her word against an officer’s.

Both women say the sexual abuse was a leading cause of their leaving the military. They have since successfully filed claims for benefits with the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding the sexual assaults and are receiving financial compensation.

Military response

"Joan" and "Brigid" have dog tags that read "NOT INVISIBLE," part of the promotion for the documentary The Invisible War. Photographed on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in the Gazette studio in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/The Gazette-KCRG)

Because of the high number of sexual assaults, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced early this year two policies to ease the process for men and women who report abuse.

The first allows victims who file a report to request an expedited transfer to a different unit. The unit commander must respond within 72 hours.

The second policy standardizes the retention period of all sexual assault records — 50 years — to streamline the process for veterans who file claims with Veterans Affairs.......

READ MORE HERE 

Mind Field: PTSD & the Military

Can the Armed Forces afford to accurately diagnose soldiers--and their families--with psychological issues stemming from war?

By Keegan Hamilton Wednesday, Aug 8 2012

Nature calls, even in a war zone. And so, in April 2008, when John Byron Etterlee was stationed at an American military base in Baghdad, working the night shift at an Army tactical operations center, he carried his rifle as he stepped outside to use the outhouse. Suddenly, just as he began to relieve himself, he heard an ominous buzz in the sky above.

Etterlee, a stout Georgia native with a blond crew cut and thick spectacles, hustled out of the portable toilet and gazed up into the darkness. The buzz sounded like a small airplane approaching, but Etterlee, already midway through his second tour of duty inIraq, realized the white streak tearing through the night was an incoming rocket.

"For a split second I thought, 'Oh my God, am I going to die?' " the 35-year-old soldier recalls matter-of-factly in his slow Southern cadence. "I thought it was coming toward me. Fifteen seconds later I heard a loud explosion that shook the buildings. The rocket hit maybe 50 yards outside the gate."

Nobody was injured in the attack, and Etterlee's desert outpost incurred no serious damage. In hindsight, he says, it was just another close call during a span when he and his unit became accustomed to mortar fire, IED detonations, and other random explosions. But for some reason, perhaps because of the embarrassing circumstances, this particular brush with death has stuck with him. "I almost pissed in my pants," Etterlee says with a halfhearted chuckle. "It wasn't funny when it happened, but it's kinda funny now."

A chemical-weapons specialist tasked mainly with keeping records and maintaining equipment, Etterlee had limited combat experience during his time in Iraq. Nevertheless, his vehicle was once nearly struck by a roadside bomb, and one of his closest friends was killed in action in a separate incident. When he returned home toJoint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in late 2008, the chemical weapons specialist was clearly rattled. His wife forced him to spend nights on the couch because he punched, kicked, and thrashed in his sleep. He was prone to outbursts of anger. He tried to avoid conversations about the war, and, when co-workers inevitably swapped battle stories, his heart pounded and his mind raced.

He says he tried to seek help, but to no avail. "I went to chaplains more times than I can count," Etterlee says. "I went to my chain of command, and basically got the runaround. Nobody put me on any kind of formal treatment program."

On top of his mental issues, Etterlee was struggling financially. He and his wife divorced. And then, during a training exercise at Fort Lewis, he suffered herniated discs in his back while dragging a fellow soldier in a simulated rescue situation. Despite the painful back injury, he was briefly redeployed to the Middle East. Back at the base again in 2010, Etterlee was at the end of his rope.

READ MORE HERE 

Reports of Military Suicides on the Rise: Will Licensed Counselors be Allowed to Help Now?

After over a decade as an Army Behavioral Health Specialist, BH-related experiences on 2 overseas deployments, from reports I was privy to while working in my active duty position in Washington, D.C., and from countless stories from military friends, co-workers, and clients, I have personally noted that interpersonal relationships were/are the most common theme amongst Troops contemplating or attempting suicide. This is something not “treated” with a diagnosis and a pill but that’s what our Troops typically get. Finally a U.S. publication has printed the truth: Our Troops need therapeutic counseling to address their most serious mental health needs. See the article link below.

The article reveals research clearly indicating that our Troops need the services of professionals who can specifically address the actual reasons behind the suicide rates, among other things. Troops’ mental health issues need to be addressed with actual counseling and therapy—not what they most often receive. As I’ve discussed in previous blogs, currently no military branch allows Licensed Counselors/Therapists to serve in the military as a Behavioral Health Officer. That is, of course, unless they are also a master’s level Social Worker, a Psychiatric Nurse, a Clinical or Counseling Psychologist, or a Psychiatrist. With the VA it’s not much better. Despite the efforts of organizations such as the ACA and despite Congress’s recent mandate to start hiring Licensed Counselors and Therapists, they are still only opening up the positions to Social Workers in most cases.

I have been running my mouth to anyone who would listen about this for years. Why is every military branch still excluding the Professional Counseling and Therapist professions? Why is the VA still not hiring professionals in THE fields of expertise to best address what Troops and their Families are needing most? NOT just diagnoses, NOT just pills, NOT just Army Social Workers pumped out of an accelerated program. But a well-rounded mental health care system. One that stops excluding professionals who are best suited to assist in the most common mental health issues.

READ MORE HERE

New Study: U.S. Military Suicide Rate Now Likely Double or Triple Civil War’s

Can medical data from the U.S. Civil War help us better understand military suicides?

Your recent Time cover story in the July 23 issue detailed the tragic facts that suicide rates among active-duty U.S. military personnel rose dramatically over the past decade. Military suicide rates doubled between 2001 and 2006, while remaining flat in the general population, with more military fatalities attributed to suicide than to actual combat in Afghanistan during that period.

To make matters worse, we do not understand why. Stressors related to military training, overseas deployment, transition back to civilian life, and combat are widely believed to be major driving factors. However, 31% of soldiers who committed suicide had never been deployed to a war zone. Furthermore, suicide rates in British military forces have also increased recently, though to a lesser degree, and do not exceed the rate of the general population.

Is there a lack of historical context?

Compounding our inability to understand this current phenomenon is the lack of adequate historical data to provide context on whether high suicide rates were typical of prior wars. Review of archival records from past wars might help shed some light on the current military suicide epidemic.

In a recent study (Frueh & Smith, 2012) we reviewed historical medical records on suicide deaths among Union forces during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), a brutal war that many consider the first modern one, and for the year immediately after the war to estimate the suicide rate among its Union combatants. We also reviewed these same historical records for data on rates of alcohol abuse and other probable psychiatric illnesses.

White active-duty Union military personnel suicide rates ranged from 8.74 – 14.54 per 100,000 during the Civil War, and surged to 30.4 the year after the war. For black Union troops, rates ranged from 17.7 in the first year of their entry into the war (1863), to 0 in their second year, and 1.8 in the year after the war.

For comparison, the current rate of U.S. military suicides is just over 20 per 100,000 troops. To further put these figures into current context, there were more military suicides in 2010 (total suicides = 295), than during the entire four years of the Civil War, for which we found 278 documented Union suicides, and forces were of comparable size.

Thus, current suicide rates in the U.S. military are probably two to three times higher than those documented during the Civil War. Rates for other available psychological domains, including chronic alcoholism, “nostalgia,” and insanity, were extremely low (< 1.0%) by modern day standards during the Civil War.

Of course, we should interpret data from the U.S. Civil War cautiously, not simply because of its age, but because medicine and society in the 1860s were psychologically naïve. There was almost no awareness or understanding of mental illness then. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), now understood to be a common post-combat reaction did not exist in the medical literature at the time. Moreover, it is possible (but by no means certain) that the stigma of suicide and psychological problems may have biased against reporting.

What about combat intensity?

As noted by preeminent Harvard psychologist, Richard J. McNally (2012), these Civil War findings occurred within the context of extremely intense combat operations. In reviewing historical data on rates of killed in action, he notes that the death rate for Union forces during the Civil War was 48 times higher than for modern U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And yet, emotional problems and disability (from many different causes) has risen dramatically among U.S. military personnel and veterans, even since the Vietnam war.

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Lawsuit alleges paperwork mistake has cost veterans millions

By LEO SHANE III

Stars and Stripes

Published: July 26, 2012

WASHINGTON — Some combat injured sailors and Marines may have been cheated out of millions in veterans disability payments because of paperwork mistakes made by the services, according to a class-action complaint brought against the military this week.

Officials from the National Veterans Legal Services Program filed the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of three combat veterans, but said they believe more than 1,000 may have been affected.

Bart Stichman, joint executive director of NVLSP, said the men lost about $20,000 in disability benefits each because service officials failed to note their injuries were combat related. Without that designation, Department of Veterans Affairs officials were forced to withhold disability payouts from the men for several years.

Navy and Marine Corps officials directed requests for comment to the Department of Justice, which would defend the services in the suit. Department of Justice officials said they are reviewing the case, but did not offer any rebuttal to or explanation for the alleged errors.

Stichman estimates the mistakes cost veterans a combined $20 million in lost disability payments.

“Someone was asleep at the wheel on this,” he said. “We’re not seeing this problem with the Army or the Air Force. But the Navy and Marine Corps didn’t do what they were supposed to.”

The problem stems from a 2008 change in how veterans disability benefits were awarded.

Marine Corps veteran Randy Howard, one of the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, received more than $24,000 in a payout from the service in 2008 after officials determined his traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder — the result of two combat tours in Iraq — made him unable to stay on active duty.

Under the old rules, any servicemember separated for serious injuries would receive a lump-sum payout from the military, but their veterans disability checks would be delayed until the VA “recouped” that same amount.

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