Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness

[babylonsister]

Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness
By Philip Dine
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
09/30/2007

WASHINGTON — Thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — as many as 10 a day — are being discharged by the military for mental health reasons. But the Pentagon isn't blaming the war. It says the soldiers had "pre-existing" conditions that disqualify them for treatment by the government.

Many soldiers and Marines being discharged on this basis actually suffer from combat-related problems, experts say. But by classifying them as having a condition unrelated to the war, the Defense Department is able to quickly get rid of troops having trouble doing their work while also saving the expense of caring for them.

The result appears to be that many actually suffering from combat-related problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries don't get the help they need.

Working behind the scenes, Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have written and inserted into the defense authorization bill a provision that would make it harder for the Pentagon to discharge thousands of troops. The Post-Dispatch has learned that the measure has been accepted into the Senate defense bill and will probably become part of the Senate-House bill to be voted on this week.

The legislation sets a higher bar for the Pentagon to use the personality-disorder discharge, and also mandates a review of the policies by the Government Accountability Office. Bond said it also would "force the Pentagon to stop using this discharge until we can fix the problem."

Bond said he learned of the practice from returning Iraq veterans. He called it an "abuse" of the system and "inexcusable."

"They've kicked out about 22,000 troops who they say have pre-existing personality disorders. I don't believe that," Bond said in an interview Friday. "And when you kick them out, they don't get the assistance they need, they aren't entitled to DOD or Veterans Administration care for those problems."

Obama said the practice is "deeply disturbing" because "it means that those who have served this country aren't getting the care they need. …"

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician declined Friday to discuss the matter because it was related to current legislation.

Defense Department records show that 22,500 cases of personality-disorder discharges have been processed over the last six years.

more...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/washington/story/B8F5491DEDE1CF2C8625736500190F67?OpenDocument

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. That is just unspeakable. n/t

[robinlynne]

2. jailtime for anyone involved in this in any way.

[acmavm]

3. Use 'em up and spit 'em out. That's the bush** administration motto

when it comes to how they treat the military. Except for unscrupulous liars like General David Betrayus and the others like him.

[daninthemoon]

4. OMG. Can they get any worse, as human creatures I mean, can

they possibly get any worse? they shame us daily.

[EFerrari]

5. Don't forget to rec to more can see. n/t

[NMMNG]

6. Depraved SOBs

:grr:

[Bluerthanblue]

7. screw that- "let the buyer beware"- not to mention

even if there was a 'pre-existing' tendency for someone to be vulnerable to personality disorders-etc. they were obviously functioning well enough when the military signed them on. It was the conditions they were placed under in service to this country that tipped that balance for them, and the government not only holds the responsibility- it owes them big time.

Was just reading founding fathers stuff, and the phrase "Consent of the governed" keeps screaming at me.

How long will we allow the "government" to screw us before we say for good and all ENOUGH?

:nuke:

:nuke:

:nuke:

[ProSense]

8. When they announced the testing, they tried to make it out to be a good thing.

Posted here

The testing should be done when soldiers return from war so that those suffering from PTSD and other trauma can receive proper care.

[Bluerthanblue]

11. there is no test that would show

a pre-existing case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

:shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

9. This is a terrible story.

I was appalled when I read it in the paper this morning. I challenge any of the people making these kinds of decisions to spend six months on the ground in Iraq and then determine if their mental health isn't affected. It's hard to believe how low the government can stoop.

[Captain Hilts]

10. How does the military deal with the riddilen [sp?] prozac generation? nt

[Nikia]

12. Shouldn't pre existing mental conditions be screened for in the beginning

When they sign up, during training, and especially before going into a war zone? I would think that going to a war zone would have a high probability of aggrevating any pre existing conditions.

[Bluerthanblue]

13. if someone had a pre-existing mental condition

which was enough to require continued medical treatment, and which was severe enough to end their military service, they wouldn't be accepted into the service to begin with.

Remember one of the Columbine kids had been put onto an anti-depressant, and he was beside himself because it meant the couldn't be a Marine? (if i remember correctly)

I think there are very good grounds for this to be tossed out.

I sure as hell hope it is.

[Deja Q]

14. That is correct. Several months ago I looked at the qualification list.

Certain surgeries and mental illnesses, amongst other things, are instant disqualifiers.

Something's definitely wrong with this picture.

[Bluerthanblue]

15. thanks- I agree, something is

really "off"-

I don't understand how this has been allowed to happen -the public needs to open their eyes and see this for what it is.

All the garbage about "support the troops"- all the posturing and photo-ops.

How about living up to our promises.

???

This is so incredibly frustrating to me- some wounds don't show from the outside- it is often those kind that the victim is frequently taught to feel ashamed about, and responsible for.

:nuke:

[PDenton]

21. the list is pretty extensive

I believe if you have taken ritalin at any time after age 12 you are not qualified, even if the problem resolves intself and you no longer need the drugs. Likewise, no non-febrile seizures of any kind above a certain age are allowed, and all antipsychotics, antidepressants, etc. disqualify you (note, for anti-depressants you can get a waiver if you have been off them for a year and get a doctor's exam saying you are not depressed- but many other mental illnesses or personality disorders will disqualify you). Their supply of available troops is going to get alot smaller in the future as more people use psychiatric drugs, in fact they are already noticing that problem.

[Ariana Celeste]

25. They're supposed to.

I know someone with bipolar and borderline who somehow ended up in the Navy regardless.

[uppityperson]

16. That is just wrong. k&r

If they had pre-existing personality disorders, they shouldn't have been in the military to begin with. And all I see is a way to not give people the care they need for the job they had to do. bullshit bullshit bullshit.

[jmowreader]

17. There are four places they are SUPPOSED to screen for pre-existing mental conditions

This is how it worked when I went in...I raised my right hand three days before Ronald Reagan was sworn in. Strangely enough, there are days when I can't remember whether I wore socks to work, but I can remember that the day I initially enlisted in the Army was Saturday, January 17, 1981.

On the evening of January 16, I went to see Sergeant Yasenak at the recruiting station. There was a whole stack of forms he filled out for me, and one of them was all this pre-existing conditions stuff. Unfortunately, most of it I had to answer "no" to. The only "yes" answer was "have you ever been in the hospital overnight?" (Reason: "hit with a log skidder." A log skidder is a huge piece of diesel-powered equipment. For that I only stayed in the hospital one night.) Sergeant Yasenak pronounced me the most boring person alive, which is true, and sent me to the Military Enlistment and Processing Station in Spokane.

If I would have answered "yes" to some of the questions I would have been sent to a doctor for evaluation. For other questions, I would have received a "permanent deferral" which would have kept me out of the military forever.

Because the MEPS people know sometimes recruiters write down no when the applicant said yes, especially between the 25th and 31st of the month, at MEPS I got to fill out the questionnaire again, but with the questions in a different order. Apparently the form came in several versions so the troop wouldn't be able to remember to "be sure to say no to questions 25, 49 and 62." Then I had to fill out an even longer questionnaire for my security clearance. It had fun questions like "have you ever been in a motorcycle gang?" It also asked if you'd ever smoked pot. I wonder what would happen if you put down that you had been in a motorcycle gang but had never smoked pot. Checked the answer you gave for "how many times have you shoved heroin in your life?", probably. Anyway, the MEPS people confirmed Sergeant Yasenak's assessment of me and put me in the Delayed Entry Program.

When I finally went in, at the reception station at Fort Dix we each had to go into a little cubicle with a doctor who asked us a lot more questions along the lines of the first two forms. Now I've got THREE people who have pronounced me the most boring person alive. Well, four if you count the guy at 966th MI who processed our security clearances.

And finally, the drill sergeants were trained to detect pre-existing mental conditions, which pop right out under the stress of basic training. A few guys went home from basic for mental conditions the drill sergeants detected, but most of them had been ferreted out before they ever came before Sergeant Cloud.

Now? They gotta get 'em in, get 'em through basic and get 'em into Iraq. A lot of guys over there probably DO have pre-existing conditions, which of course are made worse by seeing buddies get blown up, killing or being wounded.

Still sucks that the Army's using this to screw guys out of needed medical care. Fuck Bush.

[Bluerthanblue]

18. great post-

:hi:

[OneBlueSky]

19. this administration really goes out of its way to screw our combat veterans . . .

soldiers from past wars -- my dad included -- are turning in their graves as they watch BushCo toss these people aside like trash . . . not only are they not ashamed of their actions, they're actually proud that they're saving money at the expense of the people they sent off to war! . . .

I know they've done a lot of disgusting things in the past six years, but this has to rank right up at the top of the list . . . these people truly are shameless fucking bastards! . . .

[Wiregrass Willie]

20. "Moral waivers" are biting them on the ass

It has also increased the number of so-called “moral waivers” to recruits with criminal pasts, even as the total number of recruits dropped slightly. The sharpest increase was in waivers for serious misdemeanors, which make up the bulk of all the Army’s moral waivers. These include aggravated assault, burglary, robbery and vehicular homicide.

The number of waivers for felony convictions also increased, to 11 percent of the 8,129 moral waivers granted in 2006, from 8 percent.

Waivers for less serious crimes like traffic offenses and drug use have dropped or remained stable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14military.html

[w8liftinglady]

23. the list of psychiatric exclusions

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/613004p.pdf
unfortunately not letting me cut and paste..go to E1.25 section

[Toots]

22. Pre-existing mental disorders,Don't they test people at all before enlisting them?

Or maybe they just consider these people like Rush does as "Phony Soldiers" When I was drafted so very many years ago we had to undergo a battery of tests to determine if we were fit for service.. I guess that is no longer true. If they knew these conditions existed before they enlisted it would seem to me they were derilict in their duty by allowing them to join..

[LiberalEsto]

24. Let's invalidate the 2000 Supreme Court decision

in Bush vs. Gore AND the 2004 election/selection.

It's obvious that we have here, in the case of both the pResident and vice pResident, rampant "pre-existing mental illness."

[truedelphi]

26. Can't rec cuz post was started more than 24 hours ago

But it needs to be on the forefront of people's attention

[Desertrose]

27. Me too, so I'll kick it......