Representative Grace F. Napolitano Representing the 38th District of California
 
  For Immediate Release Contact: 202-225-5256  
May 14, 2010  
     

Rep. Napolitano Holds Briefing on Mental Health in the Military

     
     

(Washington D.C.)- Yesterday, Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, hosted a briefing in Washington, D.C. on the latest developments in mental health programs in the military. Speakers included fellow co-chair Rep. Tim Murphy, Chairman of Veterans Affairs Committee Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Deputy Surgeon General for the US Army Patricia Horoho, and mental health representatives from the Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Addressing an audience of congressional staff, the speakers agreed that the military must continue its efforts to prepare for troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the stigma against mental health formed a major obstacle treating troops with mental health issues.

“Military service members and their families have earned the right to effective mental health services,” Napolitano said. “Iraq and Afghanistan are different from other wars, and many of our soldiers will return with serious psychological wounds like post-traumatic stress disorder. As members of Congress, we must support veterans’ mental health programs and ensure that our constituents know how to use these resources and exercise their given rights.”

An estimated 35 percent of Iraq veterans are expected to return home with symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, and as of last summer more troops have been lost to suicide than combat in Afghanistan.

“The stigma against mental health is great, and it is even greater in the military,” Filner said. “Soldiers are not diagnosed sufficiently because they do not want to be labeled as ‘weak.’ The stigma is changing, but it is not changing fast enough.”

“Stigma is an issue,” agreed Col. John Forbes from the Air Force. “Its effects on the soldiers, the friends, and the family all conspire to keep veterans out of clinics.”

Horoho noted that in an effort to reduce stigma, the army has mandated that all redeploying troops in the US army meet with a counselor for evaluation.

“When everybody does it, it helps normalize it and decreases that stigma,” she said. “But we are changing a culture, and that takes a long time.”

“Mental wounds are as serious as physical ones, and Congress and the military should respond accordingly,” Napolitano said. “After their dedication and service to our country, veterans should feel no shame in asking that we assist them in return. Our mental health programs must be capable of providing veterans and their families with the healing and support that they need to return their lives to some semblance of normalcy.”


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