It Gets Worse

When I posted this morning about mental health problems in the military, I was remembering a report I heard recently on NPR about how military training programs intimidate enlisted men and discourage them from reporting any problems. I couldn't find a copy of that report in the time I had, but I've just run across another report, from Mother Jones, with the following comment:

According to NPR, 40 percent of troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan have some sort of psychological problem. Nearly a quarter show signs of serious mental health disorders.

It gets worse: Soldiers reporting psychological problems are not only not helped, but actually get punished for their illnesses. Some are sent to clean the latrines; others, in an image disturbingly resonant of Abu Ghraib, must sit in a corner wearing a dunce camp for long periods of time. At one army base, many soldiers were kicked out of the services following psychological complaints.

[...]

For reasons NPR's correspondent doesn't address, since the War on Terror began, the few mental health specialists the DoD has "have been leaving the Army, the Marines, and the Air Force in droves." Problem is, neither the soldiers nor their demons miraculously disappear after they are released with inadequate or no treatment.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.