PTSD High in Army, Soldier Suicides Outpace Combat Deaths

Recent reports indicate the army has more than doubled the number of military and civilian behavioral health workers in the past five years. However, a litany of shortcomings still plaques the force when it comes to diagnosing and treating soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to an a report released Friday.

Researchers note confusing paperwork, inconsistent training and guidelines, and incompatible data systems for hindering services that may have been provided to deal with behavioral health issues. After a decade of war, solider suicides outpace combat deaths, according to reports.

Last May, the Army commissioned a task force to conduct an overall  review of how it evaluates soldiers for mental health problems at all its facilities. About 150 of those soldiers eventually had their diagnoses restored.

"I am pleased that the Army completed this review and has vowed to make fixes over the next year, though I am disappointed it has taken more than a decade of war to get to this point," Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington said in a statement. This review came under pressure from Murray who was upset to learn that hundreds of soldiers at Madigan Army Medical Center had their PTSD diagnoses reveresed by a forensic team, which resulted in a potential cut to their benefits and questions about monetary benefits. 

"Many of the 24 findings and 47 recommendations in this report are not new. Creating a universal electronic health record, providing better rural health access, and standardizing the way diagnoses are made, for instance, have been lingering problems for far too long. Our service members and their families deserve better."

The task force interviewed 750 people stationed around the globe, conducted listening sessions with 6,400 others and reviewed more than 140,000 records. The Army's Medical Command reviewed diagnoses for all soldiers evaluated for behavioral health problems from October 2001 until last April.

Since September 2001, the report found, 4.1 percent of all soldiers deployed wound up with a behavioral health diagnosis such as PTSD or traumatic brain injury. Many can remain on active duty.

Nationwide, the report said, 6,400 soldiers had behavioral health diagnoses "adjusted" by medical evaluation boards, with approximately equal numbers having PTSD added as a diagnosis and removed as a diagnosis. Two locations where medical evaluation boards are held had slightly higher diagnosis changes than the Army-wide average, but the report did not identify them. Cases from those locations are being reviewed to ensure no soldiers were improperly affected, the report said.

Last year the Army - and the military as a whole - suffered the highest number of suicides ever recorded, prompting then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to declare it an epidemic. The Army had 183 suicides among active-duty soldiers, up from 167 in 2011, and the military as a whole had 350 suicides, up from 301 the year before.

Yet, the report also noted that the Army had made strides in some areas, including cutting how long it takes soldiers to obtain a disability evaluation and publishing a guide to the process.