He is deployed, she is at home alone with 3 kids under 5 - so she is having a tough time. He is missing them and is out of communication with them a lot (I have not heard from him for a few days, which is to be expected of course, but as much as I worry I am sure his wife is ten times as stressed).
I felt it could stress them more on the one hand to read about this, or on the other give them some more options.
THEN I read this:
Army can't track mental health records of deployed soldiers
Between 20 percent and 30 percent of troops who have served combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from mental health problems, but a Nextgov investigation shows the Army currently has no way to consistently track the mental health status of soldiers deployed to the two countries and the service finds itself overwhelmed by paper records.
An internal message sent Jan. 11 from the Army Office of the Surgeon General obtained by Nextgov said Army units in the U.S. Central Command Area of Operations, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan, have become "saturated" with paper behavioral health records because mental health providers who treat these soldiers are not entering data into the theater electronic health record known as AHLTA-T.
What's more, the Army does not have a system to scan and code these paper records to support search and retrieval from the Defense Department electronic heath record, Nextgov discovered.
This has serious implications for troops who seek follow-up mental health care when they return from deployment. The message noted, "As a result, soldiers returning from deployment are experiencing delays with continued health care and/or filing medical claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs."
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110303_5243.php?oref=topnewsI hope he not only makes it home in one piece, but that he and his wife/kids (who don't understand why daddy is not home) don't suffer any long term mental effects.