Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - Thousands Strain Fort Hood's Mental Health System

Richard · 09-07-2010, 07:26

About every fourth soldier here, where 48,000 troops and their families are based, has been in counseling during the past year, according to the service's medical statistics. And the number of soldiers seeking help for combat stress, substance abuse, broken marriages or other emotional problems keeps increasing.

{snip}

• Fort Hood counselors meet with more than 4,000 mental health patients a month.

• Last year, 2,445 soldiers were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), up from 310 in 2004.

• Every month, an average of 585 soldiers are sent to nearby private clinics contracted through the Pentagon's TRICARE health system because Army counselors cannot handle more patients. That is up from 15 per month in 2004.

• Hundreds more see therapists "off the network" because they want their psychological problems kept secret from the Army. A free clinic in Killeen offering total discretion treated 2,000 soldiers or family members this year, many of them officers.

• Last year, 6,000 soldiers here were on anti-depressant medications and an additional 1,400 received anti-psychotic drugs.

Thousands Strain Fort Hood's Mental Health System
USAToday, 23 Aug 2010

http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...m?csp=obinsite

And so it goes...

Richard

09-07-2010, 07:26	#1
Richard Quiet Professional Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: NorCal Posts: 15,370	Thousands Strain Fort Hood's Mental Health System About every fourth soldier here, where 48,000 troops and their families are based, has been in counseling during the past year, according to the service's medical statistics. And the number of soldiers seeking help for combat stress, substance abuse, broken marriages or other emotional problems keeps increasing. {snip} • Fort Hood counselors meet with more than 4,000 mental health patients a month. • Last year, 2,445 soldiers were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), up from 310 in 2004. • Every month, an average of 585 soldiers are sent to nearby private clinics contracted through the Pentagon's TRICARE health system because Army counselors cannot handle more patients. That is up from 15 per month in 2004. • Hundreds more see therapists "off the network" because they want their psychological problems kept secret from the Army. A free clinic in Killeen offering total discretion treated 2,000 soldiers or family members this year, many of them officers. • Last year, 6,000 soldiers here were on anti-depressant medications and an additional 1,400 received anti-psychotic drugs. Thousands Strain Fort Hood's Mental Health System USAToday, 23 Aug 2010 http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...m?csp=obinsite And so it goes... Richard __________________ “Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch) “Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
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