Saturday, May 23, 2009
Following the fatal shooting of five U.S. service members at a counseling center in Baghdad earlier this month, the need to encourage more soldiers to seek mental care has taken on new urgency. However, a military culture that values strength and capability is discouraging thousands of solders from seeking help in dealing with the emotional scars of war in Iraq and Afghanistan..
On May 11, 2009, after completing his third tour in Iraq, Army Sergeant John M. Russell opened fire at a combat stress clinic in Baghdad, where he had been ordered to seek counseling. He has been charged with murdering five U.S. soldiers.
Up to one-fifth of the more than 1.7 million military members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan are believed to have symptoms of anxiety, depression and other emotional conditions. Studies have shown that only half of those who need help seek it. While “combat stress”’ is common in every war, including “shell shock” cases in World War I, “battle fatigue” in World War II, and post-traumatic stress disorder in the Vietnam and other wars, the frequent, repeat rotations of soldiers in the current conflicts exacerbate the emotional toll on both soldiers and their families. Service members do not have time to heal and decompress before they are sent out again. Shortly after returning home to the United States or Germany, they must prepare for their next deployment. Moreover, sergeants on their third or fourth assignments are more than twice as likely to suffer mental health problems as those on their first assignment in a combat zone.
Military officials insist they are aware of the growing stress problem in the ranks and are working to expand counseling facilities in both war zones and military bases in the U.S. and Europe. But changing attitudes in the ranks has proven to be a greater challenge. Young soldiers are reluctant to seek help because they do not want to seem weak and incapable of performing their tasks in front of their peers and leaders.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a lobbying group in the United States, is urging the military to accelerate training of sergeants and junior officers to recognize signs of combat stress and to perform mandatory mental health screening for all soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. The group believes that if everyone is screened, the stigma will fade.
-Melanie Young
Army Fights Stigma of Mental Care (by Robert H. Reid, Associated Press)
Army IDs Sgt. John M. Russell as the Shooter Who Killed 5 Fellow Soldiers at Iraq Base (by Stephanie Gaskell, New York Daily News)
Bringing the War Back Home: Mental Health Disorders Among 103 788 US Veterans Returning From Iraq and Afghanistan Seen at Department of Veterans Affairs Facilities(by Seal, Bertenthal, Miner, Sen and Marmar, Archives of Internal Medicine)
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