Mental Health Disparity in the Military - Research Paper Example

? Mental Health Disparities within the Military Numerous reports regarding the effects of post-war trauma on military personnel prompted thestudies on the occurrences as well as factors that could affect their susceptibility to mental health issues. Different studies have shown that men are more often than not have a tendency to lean towards alcohol abuse more than women, and that the most susceptible in developing numerous mental disorders at the same time are members of the female population, as well as those from the lowest age bracket (up to 24 years of age). Such results imply that non-resolution of such problems result to high morbidity rates, thus there must be additional diligence of psychiatrists to address the overall mental health of military personnel. Mental Health Disparities within the Military The National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH) was originally established for the purpose of addressing the mental health issues that veterans had after returning from World War II (Insel, 2011). While the institute was successful in identifying the major mental health disorders in soldiers that need to be cured, there are still problems that need to be solved. Such major mental health problems include relationship problems, adjustment and anxiety disorders, substance-related disorders, and psychotic disorders, which could result to social or occupational impairment (Kennedy & Zilmer, 2006). Because around 20% of the 2 million soldiers from the Middle East were estimated to be struggling with stress from the war and most were left to cope with it alone, there was an observed increase in suicides as well as the formation of substance addictions (Insel, 2011). Major disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance abuse and suicidal tendencies are the results of the lack of appropriate or effective debriefing amongst soldiers that returned home. The age bracket of those that start their military career at present is significantly at a lower age group compared from a few decades ago. There is also the increase of women in the military, and this starts to create the divergence of the traditionally-observed major mental health disorders among those under active duty. Thus, there is a strong need for an increase in better mental health management, most especially in the military sector (Insel, 2011). Numerous studies in recent years were able to focus on the effects of war-related stress on soldiers from military zones, most especially in the Middle East, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, mainly due to the effects that were observed as well as the profiles of the participants that were included in the reports. A cohort study by Riddle et al. in 2006 was able to show which of the members of the population of U.S. military members were highly-susceptible to developing mental health issues while on duty. It is important to note how to improve the overall mental and physical health of service personnel not just for the need to be organized and productive while under deployment, but also because it could affect the overall success of military missions as well as keeping the mortality low during battles (Riddle, et al., 2007). Out of the cohort studied (n=76, 476), 73% composed the male population, 35.1% were between the ages of 25 and 34 years, 30% were just recently deployed, and 45% had less than 10 years of military experience (Riddle, et al., 2007). The observed major mental health disorders in the studied group were alcohol abuse (11.9-12.6% of the cohort within the first 6 months), PTSD (2.4% in a month), major depressive disorder (3.2% in two weeks), panic syndrome (1% in a month), other anxiety disorders (2% in a month), and eating disorders (3.1% within 3 months) (Riddle, et al., 2007). Except for alcohol abuse, women were observed to be highly-susceptible to all of the aforementioned disorders, and the youngest members of the cohort were highly susceptible to all disorders as a whole (Riddle, et al., 2007). It was concluded in the study that while the overall mental health of the cohort was fairly good and implies the reliability of the military, the high prevalence of alcohol abuse and other mental disorders combined with the mentally-demanding occupation and homesickness greatly affects the mental health of military personnel, thus the relevance of the need to address such health issues. The rates in the cohort study were found to be more or less consistent with other studies conducted, and the results did not vary greatly regardless of the place where the personnel were stationed (Riddle, et al., 2007). The varying prevalence rates of the occurrence of mental health issues prompted the study of Thomas et al. regarding a study of deployed National Guards to Iraq (2010). Of the sample population (n=13, 266), the lowest age bracket of 18-24 years of age composed 48% and 27% of the Active Component (AC) and the National Guard (NG), respectively, while 97% and 95% were from the male population (Thomas, et al., 2010). While the study did not specify the percentages of each bracket and group that was afflicted with mental disorders and substance abuse, the findings however were able to conclude that up to 50% of the soldiers diagnosed with either depression or PTSD were also susceptible to either or both alcohol abuse and aggressive behavior (Thomas, et al., 2010). Also, the researchers were able to find out the level of effects of such disorders to functional impairment among military personnel. The results could lead to further research, such as cumulative effects of the persistence of mental health problems while in the line of duty. A study that specifically focused on alcohol abuse during deployment was conducted by Wilk et al., and was published in 2010. Out of the sample population (n= 1080), 25% were found to be highly-susceptible to alcohol misuse after being deployed (Wilk, et al., 2010). Around 12% of the whole sample cohort were both positive to alcohol-misuse susceptibility as well as being impaired while on duty, and the lowest age bracket were at least 50% susceptible for alcohol misuse aside from developing other mental health problems (Wilk, et al., 2010). The study concluded that due to the high exposure to difficult situations as well as atrocities in the military, many of their personnel tend to develop both mental health disorders as well as substance abuse problems. Also, those with a high-susceptibility to alcohol misuse were also most likely to become impaired in their work function as well as survival in the field (Wilk, et al., 2010). The researchers greatly suggest that follow-up sessions for these highly-susceptible personnel be made in order to lessen the burden of alcohol abuse as well as other war-related trauma once they resume civilian status again. In another study conducted by Seal et al. (2009), the statistics of the National Guards and Reserved officers that returned from Iraq could give a rough estimate of the socio-demographic profiles of the soldiers that were deployed. The statistics showed that around 66.7% of the total number surveyed (n= 289, 328) were not members of the redeployed, 33.3% and 32.4% were within the age bracket of 25-29 and 16-24 years, respectively, and 87.3% were from the male population (Seal, et al., 2009). This data set echoes the information about the relatively young ages of soldiers under deployment, which almost equates with the bracket of 25-29 years of age. Within an average deployment span of 2 years, the number of veterans that were diagnosed with new mental health problems increased from 6.4% to 36.9%, and within this group of 36.9% around 1/3 had three or more mental health problems diagnosed (Seal, et al., 2009). It was also found out that the members of the youngest age group (16-24 years old) were twice as likely to develop mental health disorder symptoms as compared to an older age bracket, such as those above 40 years (Seal, et al., 2009). It was also found out that the female veterans had a higher susceptibility to depression as compared to the male veterans, and the latter were at a significantly greater risk of developing substance abuse problems as compared to the former (Seal, et al., 2009). Such a trend shows what kind of symptom each gender tends to develop. The study concluded that mental health diagnoses among the population of veterans studied could have up to a six-fold increase within the first few years of being in active duty (Seal, et al., 2009). It is therefore imperative that proper interventions be done as early as possible, most especially to the most susceptible of the populations. Based on the preceding reports, it can be inferred that within the different groups of military personnel, there are people that have tendencies to succumb to mental health disorders during and after deployment. While both genders are equally susceptible to acquiring major mental health disorders such as depression and PTSD, males are more likely to become substance-abusers, which in turn could lead them to having depression, anxiety disorders and panic attacks while on duty. This also leads to their impairment in the battlefield. On the other hand, females may not be easily susceptible to alcohol or substance abuse, but they are much more easily affected by most mental health problems like depression and other anxiety disorders. With regards to the age groups, the younger the age bracket, the more susceptible they are in getting mental health problems as well as becoming impaired during ordinary and combat duty because of them. It may be due to the ages of these personnel, where they still need to develop intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in order to survive high levels of stress while in military duty. Compared to previous data from veterans of 10-30 years ago, there were many changes observed in the composition of military personnel. Unlike before, where most personnel are males and above 25 years of age, at present aside from the addition of females in the military, there are also more younger soldiers under active duty, as shown by reports. Due to these changes, the challenge to psychiatrists attending the mental health needs of veterans must also change, in the sense that their methods must be accommodating to all personnel, regardless of gender or age, since one way or another their life under military duty would have undoubtedly caused unseen wounds, one way or the other. By doing so the psychiatrists could help in improving the lives of these veterans in adjusting to society once they have decided to become part of the civilian population again. References Insel, T. (2011, November 10). NIMH - Recognizing Those Who Have Served. Retrieved from NIMH - Director's Blog: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2011/recognizing-those-who-have-served.shtml Kennedy, C., & Zilmer, E. (2006). Military Psychology: Clinical and Operational Applications. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Riddle, J., Smith, T., Smith, B., Corbeil, T., Engel, C., Wells, T., . . . Blazer, D. (2007). Millennium cohort: the 2001-2003 baseline prevalence of mental disorders in the U.S. Military. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 60: 192-201. Seal, K., Metzler, T., Gima, K., Bertenthal, D., Maguen, S., & Marmar, C. (2009). Trends and factors for mental health diagnoses among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans using Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care, 2002-2008. American Journal of Public Health, 99 (9):1651-1658. Thomas, J., Wilk, J., Riviere, L., McGurk, D., Castro, C., & Hoge, C. (2010). Prevalence of mental health problems functional impairment among active component and National Guard soldiers 3 and 12 months following combat in Iraq. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67 (6): 614-623. Wilk, J., Bliese, P., Kim, P., Thomas, J., McGurk, D., & Hoge, C. (2010). Relationship of combat experiences to alcohol misuse among US soldiers returning from the Iraq war. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 108: 115-121. Read More