Dr. John Mann Joins Congress in Addressing Stressors Facing Soldiers

(November 6, 2009)  APA is on record urging Congress to improve access to mental health services—including those for substance use disorders—for returning soldiers and their families, reduce mental illness stigma, and boost funding for the Veterans Health Administration workforce. APA has also testified in favor of increased funding for research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries (TBI), substance abuse, and suicide.

"Many young service members are just a few months away from childhood and seeing things they hope never to see again," said Rep. John Fleming, M.D. (R-La.), at the symposium. Fleming formerly served as a physician in the U.S. Navy and has experience treating substance abuse disorders.

Fleming also serves on the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, which has held hearings on legislation to increase the number of scholarships for training mental health professionals, especially those qualified to work with military populations, and to require the secretary of defense to create a demonstration project to provide postdeployment mental health debriefings for all returning troops.

Suicide in the armed forces has risen sharply in recent years to rates equal to those in comparable, demographically adjusted civilian populations, prompting a $60 million study of suicidality in the Army and Marines (Psychiatric News, September 21, 2007, and June 20, 2008). Traditionally, suicide rates in the military have been much lower than those in civilian populations.

The study will survey thousands of soldiers and marines at every step in their careers, from enlistment, through training and possible deployments, to and beyond discharge, said J. John Mann, M.D., a lead investigator in the four-university coalition working on the study. Mann is the Paul Janssen Professor of Translational Neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and director of research at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.   

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