Citation

Ghahramanlou-Holloway M, LaCroix JM, Koss K, Perera KU, Rowan AB, VanSickle MR, Novak LA, Trieu TH. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018; 15(4): e15040828.

Affiliation

Department of Medical & Clinical Psychology, Suicide Care, Prevention, and Research Initiative, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. theresa.trieu.ctr@usuhs.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph15040828

PMID

29690594

Abstract

Service members (SM) are at increased risk of psychiatric conditions, including suicide, yet research indicates SMs believe seeking mental health treatment may negatively impact their military careers, despite a paucity of research examining actual career impacts. This study examined the link between seeking outpatient mental health (MH) treatment and military career impacts within the United States Marine Corps. In Phase 1, a retrospective medical record review of outpatient MH treatment-seeking Marines (N = 38) was conducted. In Phase 2, a sample of outpatient MH treatment-seeking Marines (N = 40) was matched to a non-treatment-seeking sample of Marines (N = 138) to compare career-progression. In Phase 1, there were no significant links between demographic, military, and clinical characteristics and referral source or receipt of career-affecting treatment recommendations. In Phase 2, MH treatment-seeking Marines in outpatient settings were more likely than matched controls to be separated from the military (95.0% versus 63.0%, p = 0.002), but no more likely to experience involuntary separation. MH treatment-seeking Marines were more likely to have documented legal action (45.0% versus 23.9%, p = 0.008) and had a shorter time of military service following the index MH encounter than matched controls (p < 0.001). Clinical, anti-stigma, and suicide prevention policy implications are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

United States Marines Corps; career impact; mental health treatment; military; suicide