ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

U.S. service members who suffered a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury are more likely to experience a range of mental health disorders than troops with other serious injuries, according to a new study by University of Massachusetts Amherst health services researchers.

“Our findings suggest that patients who are critically injured in combat and sustain severe TBI have particularly high rates of mental health disorders,” said David Chin, the study’s lead investigator. 

New research shows veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder have a higher risk of dying from chronic liver disease, diabetes and viral hepatitis than the general population.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was conducted based on the more than 473,800 veterans who initiated PTSD treatment at any Department of Veterans Affairs medical center between fiscal years 2008–13.

The Patton Veterans Project aims to help veterans coping with post-traumatic stress by teaching them to make short, collaborative films about their service experiences, the group’s founder said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.

“The real test is the transformative process” said Patton’s Veterans Project (PVP) founder Ben Patton, the grandson of famed World War II military commander Gen. George S. Patton. “Can we get the veterans to invest in their own recovery?”

The Army has extended through March 2018 a policy requiring mental health screening of recently deployed soldiers facing separation for misconduct.

The mandatory screening applies to service members deployed during the previous two years in support of a contingency operation who face administrative discharge under less-than-honorable conditions.

Mar. 3, 2017

The Army is giving “liberal consideration” to requests from veterans seeking to upgrade discharges when Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was a contributing factor in ending their Army careers, a top Army official told Congress.

Special consideration is being given if there is evidence in a service record of PTSD symptoms, or diagnoses of PTSD or related conditions by a civilian or Veterans Affairs Department doctor, said Francine Blackmon, deputy assistant Army secretary for review boards, in an appearance before a House Armed Services Committee panel.

The Army’s top enlisted soldier is urging troops not to fear the stigma that too often surrounds mental health treatment and to seek help if they think they need it.

“One of the greatest threats to our force is post-traumatic stress, depression and other behavioral health-related concerns,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey says in his latest “SMA Minute” video posted online. “This is not something we can change, but it is something we can treat.”

Soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder who undertake individual therapy see their symptoms improve about twice as much as those treated in group settings, a new study shows.

Results of this study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, came out of a clinical trial that ran from March 2012 through September 2014 and involved 268 active-duty soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas.

The first military woman to ever be crowned Miss USA is using her new platform to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder among service members.

Army Reserve 1st Lt. Deshauna Barber, 26, said PTSD is too often “a silent mental battle” that many troops try to wage on their own. Service members are “taught to be strong, to push through those mental and emotional battles,” said Barber, logistics commander for the 988th Quartermaster Detachment, a petroleum testing unit at Fort Meade, Md.