Emotional Health Deserves High Priority

LTG Eric B. Schoomaker, U.S. Army Surgeon General

by LTG Eric B. Schoomaker
The Surgeon General/Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command

I want each of you to know that leaders across the Army take the mental health concerns of our men and women in uniform seriously and that we address these issues prior to deployments, while Soldiers are in theater and when Soldiers return home. More than at any time in history, our leaders and Soldiers are armed with prevention and treatment information about mental and behavioral health care. It is my goal to approach mental health fitness as we do physical fitness - leaders at all levels are involved on a daily basis and the focus is on prevention and health promotion as opposed to treatment of a condition.

Since last fall, we have added more than 190 contract behavioral-health providers to work at our installations. We're not at our final goal, but I assure you we will continue to look at the needs of our Soldiers and their families and work to recruit and retain the right mix of mental and behavioral health care specialists.

I'm proud to say that we also have a strong presence in the combat operations areas. Since the beginning of the fights we've deployed combat and operational stress control teams to Iraq and Afghanistan to assist Soldiers with the psychological fallout of battle. There are also more than 200 deployed behavioral health providers in Iraq alone at any given time.

There's nothing weak about the men and women we send into combat. They are extraordinary and resilient and the stressors of war they face each day are real. It's important to recognize them and to deal with them. This includes the mental health stress on our own Medics-the 68W, the nurse and doc in the Forward Surgical Team or Combat Support Hospital, the Preventive Medicine team on missions outside the wire-ALL of our own people both deployed and back home caring for our patients. And, it's just as important to realize there is no weakness in seeking help. In an effort to help Soldiers do this, last year all Soldiers were required to complete a chain teaching program on concussions and post combat and operational stress that will help them understand prevention, identification and how to get help if needed.

Having said all this and putting numerous screening and assistance programs in place, I recognize that the stigma around seeking mental health care still remains an issue and it probably will for a long time. It's just something ingrained in our culture - for service members and civilians as well. We're working hard to address this and we have made some progress, but it's slow going. Recently DoD changed the security clearance application policy so that Soldiers no longer have to report counseling they receive to deal with stress from combat or counseling that is related to marital, family or grief issues. That's a step forward. They can seek care for combat or family stress without fearing it will cost them their security clearances.

Other good news on this front came from our mental health advisory team (MHAT) that evaluated behavioral health support in theater last year. The team concluded our programs are helping, especially Battlemind. The Army's Battlemind training helped reduce the number of Soldiers with symptoms of behavioral health problems, and the team reported a slow but steady decrease in perception of a stigma attached to behavioral health treatment. For those of you unfamiliar with Battlemind training, it helps Soldiers and Families anticipate the challenges they may face before, during and after deployments. Units can use videos and printed materials available at www.battlemind.army.mil.

You've probably also heard that Rand recently completed a study that indicated nearly 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression. It's not surprising and is in line with our own research. While most Soldiers will have a very successful transition home, I realize that no one comes back unchanged. I want us to do everything possible to identify Soldiers who may need help and to make it easy for them to get it. I'm committed to this as are Army leaders at every level.

As I sign off this week, I want to offer you two more resources I think are helpful to Soldiers, spouses, Families and military children - the Army's behavioral health web site, www.behavioralhealth.army.mil, and Military One Source (1-800-342-9647). You can call this number for help, including referrals for behavioral health counseling.

Remember, I work for you so let me hear from you. I want to know what we're getting right and what we need to do better.