He Said, She Said

By Paul Chute LMSW

I conducted an on-air interview with WDET (public radio} yesterday (June 3 2008) talking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as related to our military veterans.  The U.S. Army in their initial assessment projected that 38.000 returning veterans, more than two years ago, would suffer the effects of PTSD.  In a recent report from the U.S. Army, they now estimate that 300,000 returning veterans will be diagnosed with PTSD.  Unfortunately, the numbers have nowhere to go but up. According to a report by the Associated Press, this number could rise to as high as one million. 

“As the war continues, whether you believe it should or not, it is imperative that we begin to actively treat these returning heroes.”  According to Terry Jones, a spokesman for the Pentagon on health issues, there are only 1,431 mental health professionals in uniform.  Roughly 20,000 more full-time and part-time professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and substance abuse counselors work in the VA system.   

Mental health professionals, including myself, believe that we are headed to a monumental mental health crisis that neither the military nor the VA is equipped to handle.  Many civilian mental health professionals are donating their time to help veterans.  Although we have more than 400,000 mental health professionals certainly many of them are not trained to deal specifically with PTSD.

I believe it is imperative that we, as a nation, must take care of our veterans.  No matter how you feel about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which must be resolved politically. I strongly believe we have a moral obligation to provide our veterans with the best mental health services available in this country.  This includes fighting the stigma and falsehoods that exist within our military system about mental health issues. 

Of a 2007 U.S Army survey given to active duty and reserve members, 37 percent say it would be to embarrassing to report PTSD symptoms:  34 percent indicate it would harm their careers:  51 percent indicate that members of their unit would lose confidence in them: 58 percent indicate that their units would treat them differently:  43 percent noted that “my leaders would blame me for my problems” and 53 percent indicate that they would be seen as weak.

The military seems to be feeling some pressure to address this problem as they have changed the application process for security clearances, deleting questions referencing any past mental health issues to include visits to mental health professionals. 

I believe we must be proactive and address this issue now, and prepare for the inevitable.