Mental Health and the Military
The Washington Post has a profile of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man who killed 13 people at Fort Hood yesterday. My first thought is for the families of the people who died and were injured, and for Hasan's family, who must feel tremendous guilt and confusion. But the case also raises questions for me about how the military should deal with people who are clearly unable to serve and stay sane.
I don't think it's possible to build a psychiatric evaluation system that catches everyone. And I understand that the military signs contracts with people, and relies on those contracts to keep the ranks full--it's a serious matter on both sides. But it's not actually beneficial for the military to keep people on who can't serve effectively, or who will melt down while serving. There needs to be some balance between a system that allows people to fake mental illness to get out of contracts they simply don't want to fulfill, and a system that misses people who are too ill to handle the pressures of service. I don't know what that balanced system looks like. But I hope the military has better ideas than I do.
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My former brother-in-law did a stint as a forensic photographer for the Navy here in DC area. As part of his job, he was required to have a psychological eval every 6 months and was routinely encouraged to talk to a counselor. All because of what he saw through the lens of his camera while doing his job. Wonder if the military has a similar program for the psychologists and psychiatrists, who although they haven't been in combat, have helped others deal with what they've seen
Pattie Posted Monday, November 9, 2009 9:00 AMFT HOOD Massacer (sic) was a great tradgedy and will be interesting to see if the Army is a learning organization on this issue.
William R. Cumming Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:29 AM