Tagged: PTSD

The Army has more than doubled its number of military and civilian behavioral health workers in the past five years. It’s an important step. But it may not be enough. A report out today examines how the Army evaluates soldiers for mental health issues; it finds the system is riddled with problems.

The Army says it won’t release the investigation into how Madigan Army Medical Center handled some soldiers' diagnoses for post-traumatic stress disorder. The denial comes one week after the Secretary of the Army was at Joint base Lewis McChord to announce the completion of an Army-wide review on the same subject.

A decorated combat veteran who lost his medical benefits when he was kicked out of the Army for misconduct has learned he will, in fact, qualify for health care from the Veterans Administration.

SALEM, Ore. – In Salem, a former Army staff sergeant named Jarrid Starks has run out of the medications that keep him stable. He has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental and physical wounds of war. But he’s currently not eligible for veterans’ health benefits that would include prescription refills. That’s because Starks was kicked out of the Army for bad behavior. He’s far from alone. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has this story in collaboration with the Seattle Times.

This week the Army announced that it will no longer use a special psychiatry unit to evaluate soldiers with PTSD at Madigan Army Medical Center in Lakewood. Thursday, Army leadership from Madigan met with reporters.