Mental Health Advisory Team VI Reports Released
Source: U.S. Army Medical Command

Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face stress from multiple deployments into combat, but report being more adequately prepared for the stresses of deployments. Those were among findings of two teams of behavioral-health experts who surveyed and interviewed troops in the theater as part of the sixth Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT).

Another notable conclusion is that “dwell time” at home between deployments is important to Soldier mental health.

“The dwell time effect is pretty strong. It turned out to be more important than some of the other variables,” commented Lt. Col. Paul D. Bliese, director of the division of psychiatry and neuroscience at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). Bliese led the team in Iraq.

“Cumulative time deployed was less important than immediate dwell time. In other words, someone who had a total of 20 months deployed over several years and 12 months dwell time was better off than someone with 12 months of total deployment, but only eight months dwell time,” Bliese added. The team in Iraq found that behavioral-health problems in maneuver units return to near garrison rates (about 10 percent with problems) after 24 months of dwell time, and completely returned after 30 to 36 months of dwell time.
…
In Iraq, trends that have been tracked through all six MHATs since 2003 show a greater percentage of Soldiers reporting high or very high morale, more Soldiers reporting they plan to stay in the military after their current obligation and decreasing levels of exposure to combat.

The analyses also detected more worrisome trends such as more Soldiers reporting they are planning a divorce or separation and fewer Soldiers reporting they have good marriages.

A change in sampling methods compared to previous MHATs resulted in more feedback from “hard-to-reach” Soldiers who spend much of their time outside the forward operating bases.

In Iraq the team surveyed 1,260 Soldiers from 51 maneuver platoons and 1,182 Soldiers from 47 support or sustainment platoons. In Afghanistan surveys were completed by 638 Soldiers from 27 maneuver platoons and 744 Soldiers from 25 support or sustainment platoons. In addition, the teams conducted focus groups, interviewed and surveyed behavioral-health care providers, and examined previously-collected data.

About 12 percent of the surveyed Soldiers in Iraq had psychological problems, the lowest number since 2004. Combat exposure also was lowest since 2004. Marital problems, measured by stated intent to divorce or separate, have increased each year and now are over 16 percent.

+ Mental Health Advisory Team VI reports

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Mental health and substance abuse, Military and defense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.