Mental health a top priority, vets group says - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Mental health a top priority, vets group says

Mandatory, confidential mental health screening before and after deployments is a top legislative priority for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a 80,000-member organization formed five years ago.

The group’s director of government affairs, Marine Reserve Staff Sgt. Todd Bowers, said current screening programs do not seem to be working.

Bowers, who testified last week before a House subcommittee, said 19 percent of veterans returning from Iraq report mental health problems, but 35 percent seek mental health care within a year of their return. That seems to indicate self-screening is not effective, he said.

“Troops may not be filling out their forms accurately; troops needing counseling are not consistently getting referrals; and those with referrals do not always get treatment,” Bowers said.

His comments came during a hearing before the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee where representatives of other associations presented wish lists of pay and benefit improvements. Bowers said IAVA strongly supports increasing GI Bill education benefits, but better mental health screening was a top priority.

Mandatory and confidential counseling would help overcome the stigma associated with coming forward, he said.

“More than half of soldiers and Marines in Iraq who test positive for a mental health injury are concerned that they will be seen as weak by their fellow service members,” Bowers said. “One in three of these troops worry about the effect of a mental health diagnosis on their career. As a result, many troops who need care do not seek treatment.”

Bowers suggested two other ways to reduce the stigma:

* Impose a moratorium on military discharges for personality disorders, at least until a review is done to determine if the military was too quick to blame problems on pre-existing conditions.

* Amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to make clear that mental health treatment should have preference over criminal prosecution when a service member attempts suicide.

The 2008 Defense Authorization Act, signed into law Jan. 28 by President Bush, includes an order for the services to expand mental health evaluations for returning combat troops, but it does not include mandatory pre- and post-deployment evaluations.

Bowers said one screening before a combat deployment and a second screening at least 90 days after a combat tour would provide a good basis to determine if someone’s mental state has changed.

The personnel subcommittee, headed by Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., is looking at steps taken by the services to provide better mental health screening. At a hearing planned for Friday, the surgeons general of the military services will discuss recent improvements made in treatment programs for wounded combat veterans. The Senate Armed Services Committee has a similar hearing planned for Wednesday.