Deployments Risk Troops' Mental Health

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Deployments Risk Troops' Mental Health

Friday May 4, 2007 1:01 AM
By HOPE YEN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The military is putting already-strained troops at greater risk of mental health problems because of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, a Pentagon panel said Thursday in warning of an overburdened health system.

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Branding Pentagon policies overly conservative and out-of-date, the task force called for more money and a fundamental shift in treatment to focus on prevention and screening - rather than simply relying on soldiers to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 task force found 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines report psychological concerns such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from deployment. Among members of the National Guard, the figure is much higher - 49 percent - with numbers expected to grow because of repeated deployments.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6606159,00.html

[Solly Mack]

1. uh...DUH?

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Less demand was the answer a general gave c-span when asked about

the return of 12 month rotations.