Army Official Urges Mental Health Reform

Source: Associated Press

Army Official Urges Mental Health Reform

By HOPE YEN
Thursday, July 12, 2007; 3:58 PM

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's top health official said
Thursday he wants to see better mental health assessments,
stronger privacy protections and a "buddy system" to change
the military's stigma against seeking help for anxiety and
depression.

Speaking to Congress as the military rushes to improve its
much-criticized mental health system, S. Ward Casscells,
assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, also
acknowledged that the Army's touted plans to hire 25 percent
additional mental health specialists may prove hard to fulfill
for awhile because of problems in recruiting and retaining
active-duty professionals.

"It's not easy to get people into the military," said Casscells,
referring to plans by Army Surgeon Gen. Gail Pollock. "We cannot
hire 200 Army psychiatrists, which Gen. Pollock wants to do, we
can't do that overnight. So we need everyone to reach out and
look out for service members."

"It might mean if your buddy in combat is staring off into space
and not laughing anymore at the dumb jokes, maybe it's a sign
they might need to go back to base, get three hot meals and to
talk to someone confidentially," he added. "I don't expect we
will have a perfect solution."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071201119.html

(Not attacking the poster)
OK.My son had his best friend's head come off in his hands.He is drinking himself to death.Do you think anyone is there to help him?Hell,no.350 Psychiatrists...and,please don't think I'm racist,but most of them are Middle Eastern.What a fucking joke.When people start blowing their whole family away,on a daily basis,in every town in America-then MAYBE someone will wake up.There is a great program at Walter Reed.Unfortunately,they can only accept about 65 soldiers a year.This administration and their short-sightedness sickens me.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is terrible. I think of all the family's that are going to be torn apart in the years ahead, including after the end of this war. Hopefully some of that damage can be prevented. But really the best way to do that is to end the war as soon as possible.