PENTAGON REPORT: MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS BROKEN

[babylonsister]

http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfJUN07/nf061707-1.htm

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11015

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 749-07
June 15, 2007
DoD Receives Mental Health Task Force Results

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates received the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health results and forwarded them to the Congress on June 14. The department will have six months to develop and implement a corrective action plan.

“This report points to significant shortfalls in achieving goals and taking care of our service members and their families,” said Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. “We will continue to address the need for mental health care in order to reinforce our commitment to providing the best care in the world to our service members and their families who deserve no less.”

Significant findings include:


* Mental health care stigma remains pervasive and is a significant barrier to care.
* Mental health professionals are not sufficiently accessible to service members and their families.
* There are significant gaps in the continuum of care for psychological health.
* The military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychological health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict.

more...

[xultar]

1. WHEW...where are all these genius rocket scientist fuckers comin from?

[MichiganVote]

2. Like it was ever any good anyway...

[partylessinOhio]

3. Many problems arise when a government is run on the cheap to give

the rich (who never serve their country) tax cuts and safety nets are eliminated for the less fortunate.
:thumbsdown:

[MADem]

4. Gee. what a shock!! Not....

It is well known, especially in the upper ranks, that people who go to the shrink don't get promoted. It's the Tony Soprano factor at work, really.

Look at ADM Boorda. He killed himself because HE didn't have decent access to mental health care, and was prevented, due to stigma, from getting enough of it to resolve the issues he had. The senior guy in the damned Navy, and HE couldn't get the help he needed.

He's the poster boy, posthumously, for change in this arena.

Don't hold your breath, though--I don't anticipate much change until 2009, at minimum...

[stillcool]

5. I read things like this...

and I feel what can only be described as hatred. I can only imagine what a veteran would feel.

[cassiepriam]

6. Duh. News Flash. The ENTIRE nation's mental health system is broken.

Thanks to the robber barons who run managed care.
They pocket billions a year while preventing patients
from getting the care they need.

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Oooops, I screwed up again - as usual" -Commander AWOL

"At least me and my cabal of republicon cronies are dependable - tough noogies about YOUR sick sons and daughter in uniform"

- Commander AWSOL