The psychological fog of war
THE HARSH emotional and mental costs of sending troops to frequent and long deployments in wars without clear battle lines became apparent last month, when the Pentagon released data on suicides and cases of post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2007, there were 115 suicides among active duty service members, an increase over a total of 102 in 2006 and the highest figure since the Pentagon began keeping data on suicides in 1980. Last year, the services also registered their highest number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases - 14,000, an increase of 46 percent over 2006.
As one step to reduce the pressure on its ranks, the Department of Defense has already announced it would end the 15-month deployments in Iraq required by the surge of 2007. For the longer term, a drawdown in US forces in Iraq would reduce the need for the frequent deployments that are so harmful to service members' family relationships.
Other preventive steps have included recruiting more mental-health professionals and a new Department of Veterans Affairs practice of checking on the condition of every discharged service member, including those who have not reported any health problems. Such calls are aimed at getting care to those who are suffering from the depression, anxiety, emotional numbness, intrusive thoughts, sleeplessness, and nightmares of the stress disorder without reaching out for help.
Between 2003 and 2007, the services have reported a total of 40,000 post-traumatic stress disorder cases. As high as that number is, military officials say it represents just a fraction of the total. One reason troubled service members shrink from seeking help is their fear of hurting their careers. Recently, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates took the laudable step of dropping a requirement that troops list counseling for problems related to combat service in filling out a questionnaire for national security positions.
Last month, two nonprofit organizations, Give an Hour and the American Psychiatric Foundation, announced that they will use a $1 million grant from the Lilly Foundation to recruit and educate volunteer mental health professionals to work with returning service members and their families. While this is a commendable effort to close a gap in services caused by the government's failure to staff up for the mental-health problems that two simultaneous wars inevitably create, troops should not be dependent on volunteers for these services. When it comes to troops and their families reaching out for help, the old expression associated with life in the armed forces - "hurry up and wait" - cannot be tolerated.
