BoatBanter.com - Higher rate of mental illness among army enlistees...

Nearly 1 in 5 had mental illness before enlisting in Army, study says
The study raises questions about the military's screening of recruits.
Another study looks at rising suicide rates among soldiers.
Mental illness and the military

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. soldiers had a common mental illness, such as
depression, panic disorder or ADHD, before enlisting in the Army,
according to a new study that raises questions about the military's
assessment and screening of recruits.

More than 8% of soldiers had thought about killing themselves and 1.1%
had a past suicide attempt, researchers found from confidential surveys
and interviews with 5,428 soldiers at Army installations across the country.

The findings, published online Monday in two papers in JAMA Psychiatry,
point to a weakness in the recruiting process, experts said. Applicants
are asked about their psychiatric histories, and those with certain
disorders or past suicide attempts are generally barred from service.

"The question becomes, 'How did these guys get in the Army?'" said
Ronald Kessler, a Harvard University sociologist who led one of the studies.

A third study looked at the increased suicide rate among soldiers from
2004 to 2009. The study, which tracked nearly 1 million soldiers, found
that those who had been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq had an increased
rate of suicide.

But it also found that the suicide rate among soldiers who had never
deployed also rose steadily during that time. The study did not explain
the cause.

The Pentagon did not make officials available Monday to discuss the studies.

The three studies are the first from a massive research initiative
started in 2009 by the Army and the National Institutes of Mental Health
in response to the surge in suicides.

In 2011, a representative sample of soldiers was extensively questioned
and assessed for a history of eight common psychiatric disorders.

Traditionally, the Army has been psychologically healthier than the rest
of society because of screening, fitness standards and access to
healthcare. Soldiers committed suicide at about half the rate of
civilians with similar demographics.

But researchers found that soldiers they interviewed had joined the Army
with significantly higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, panic
disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder than those in
the general population.

Most notably, more than 8% of soldiers entered the Army with
intermittent explosive disorder, characterized by uncontrolled attacks
of anger. It was the most common disorder in the study, with a
pre-enlistment prevalence nearly six times the civilian rate.

"The kind of people who join the Army are not typical people," Kessler
said. "They have a lot more acting-out kind of mental disorders. They
get into fights more. They're more aggressive."

The researchers found that despite screening, pre-enlistment rates of
depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and substance abuse were on par
with civilian rates. Rates of suicidal ideation, planning and attempts
were lower than in the general population but still significant, given
the military's practice of excluding recruits with a known suicidal history.

During their military service, the soldiers' rates of most psychiatric
disorders climbed well past civilian levels, several times the rate for
some disorders.

A quarter of soldiers were deemed to be suffering from a mental illness
— almost 5% with depression, nearly 6% with anxiety disorder and nearly
9% with PTSD. The percentage of soldiers who had attempted suicide rose
from 1.1% to 2.4%.

Matthew Nock, a Harvard University psychologist who led the study on
suicide, said more than 30% of suicide attempts that occurred after
enlistment would have been prevented if the Army had excluded recruits
with pre-existing mental health conditions.

Nock said he believed the Army should improve its screening of recruits,
not to exclude them but to provide treatment to those who acknowledge a
history of mental illness.

Screening out mentally ill recruits is not as simple as it sounds
because the military largely has to rely on applicants to disclose their
mental health histories.

"People who want to come into the Army are no fools," said Dr. Elspeth
Ritchie, a former chief psychiatrist in the Army. "They know if you say
you had a past suicide attempt, you're probably not going to get in."

Dr. Eric Schoomaker, who served as surgeon general of the Army until
2012, said more stringent screening "would just lead to driving the
problems further underground."

In addition, the military would not meet its recruiting targets if it
were able to identify and exclude everybody with a history of mental
health problems, experts said.

During the peak years of war, as the military was struggling to fill its
ranks, some recruiters were known to discourage applicants from
disclosing such problems.

http://tinyurl.com/lkyh85k
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An explanation for our Johnny's constant anger?

"more than 8% of soldiers entered the Army with intermittent explosive
disorder, characterized by uncontrolled attacks of anger. It was the
most common disorder in the study, with a pre-enlistment prevalence
nearly six times the civilian rate."