Citation

Hoge CW, Ivany CG, Brusher EA, Brown MD, Shero JC, Adler AB, Warner CH, Orman DT. Am. J. Psychiatry 2015; 173(4): 334-343.

Affiliation

From the Center for Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Md.; the Behavioral Health Division, Office of the Army Surgeon General, Falls Church, Va.; the Behavioral Health Division, U.S. Army Medical Command Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Tex.; the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence, Fort Sam Houston, Tex.; and the 61st Multifunctional Medical Battalion, Fort Hood, Tex.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15040553

PMID

26552941

Abstract

The cumulative strain of 14 years of war on service members, veterans, and their families, together with continuing global threats and the unique stresses of military service, are likely to be felt for years to come. Scientific as well as political factors have influenced how the military has addressed the mental health needs resulting from these wars. Two important differences between mental health care delivered during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and previous wars are the degree to which research has directly informed care and the consolidated management of services. The U.S. Army Medical Command implemented programmatic changes to ensure delivery of high-quality standardized mental health services, including centralized workload management; consolidation of psychiatry, psychology, psychiatric nursing, and social work services under integrated behavioral health departments; creation of satellite mental health clinics embedded within brigade work areas; incorporation of mental health providers into primary care; routine mental health screening throughout soldiers' careers; standardization of clinical outcome measures; and improved services for family members. This transformation has been accompanied by reduction in psychiatric hospitalizations and improved continuity of care. Challenges remain, however, including continued underutilization of services by those most in need, problems with treatment of substance use disorders, overuse of opioid medications, concerns with the structure of care for chronic postdeployment (including postconcussion) symptoms, and ongoing questions concerning the causes of historically high suicide rates, efficacy of resilience training initiatives, and research priorities. It is critical to ensure that remaining gaps are addressed and that knowledge gained during these wars is retained and further evolved.

Language: en