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Military Families Underserved as Iraq, Katrina Take Psychological Toll

Three articles published this weekend illustrate the increasing toll placed on the mental health of both soldiers and their families as they face extended separations, fear of death and injury, trauma and loneliness following extended and repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The New York Times tells of civilian spouses turning to antidepressants and spiking divorce rates as even couples who have survived two decades of deployment are crippled under repeated tours of duty, household strains, sexual addictions and infidelities. Meanwhile, veterans native to the U.S. Gulf Coast face added stress as they return home only to find it ravaged by hurricane Katrina, reports the Biloxi Sun Herald. Storm-related stress coupled with images of destruction may induce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the results of which can be devastating if untreated.

Despite increased attention to the psychological stress of veterans, mental health resources are still greatly lacking: There is currently a 40 percent vacancy in psychologists and the demand for counseling services is growing so quickly among returning therapists that the military is now contracting services to private therapists. The American Psychological Association (APA) released a report yesterday detailing the strain on the current military health system showing that an inadequate supply of quality mental health services, stigma against mental health care, and barriers to accessing psychological services including long waits, inaccessibility, breakdowns in the referral process and limited clinic hours have prevented many military families from receiving treatment for deployment-related needs.

As a result, the APA has made the following recommendations:

* Establish centralized leadership of military mental health services to better coordinate the services on military bases and surrounding communities.

* Educate military leadership about the importance of mental health care among service members and their families and about reducing stigma associated with seeking mental health services.

* Undertake more research on mental health issues related to deployment to guide policies, program development and treatment plans for service members and their families.

* Ensure that treatment is available to service members and their families throughout the deployment cycle with special focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

* Increase recruitment efforts to hire more psychologists and to retain well-trained and experienced psychologists.

* Provide special ongoing training in deployment stress for all psychologists in the military system--both military and civilian providers.

* Allocate additional funding to ensure access to high quality mental health care for service members and their families.

With more than 700,000 children in the U.S. living with one parent station overseas, the future of the military family stands to benefit substantially from the implementation of the suggestions.

Links:
New York Times: Long Iraq Tours Can Make Home a Trying Front
Biloxi Sun Herald: War, Katrina take their toll
American Psychological Association: The Psychological Needs of U.S. Military Service Members and Their Families: A Preliminary Report (PDF)