WASHINGTON — The Army staff sergeant knew something was seriously wrong when he still couldn’t sleep weeks after returning from Afghanistan. But he never considered going to Army psychiatrists.

“There’s still too much of a stigma in the military with seeing a therapist,” said the solider, who asked to remain anonymous. “People are going to call you psycho. Even if people just see you going into the mental health offices, they’re going to think you’re crazy.”

The sergeant did get help, but through the non-profit counseling organization Give an Hour. He’s been seeing a psychiatrist for nearly two years now, after duty hours and without his colleagues’ knowledge.

Military officials have redoubled efforts over the last year to encourage troops like that solider to seek therapy for a range of post-combat mental health issues, before they grow into destructive habits or criminal behavior. But most of those efforts have focused on ways to pull troops into military counseling programs, and outside groups say those official programs still lack the compassionate, trustworthy approach needed to appeal to those suffering from psychological trauma.

Read the full article

Secretary Gates criticized a government and military bureaucracy that is “frustrating, adversarial and unnecessarily complex” — even for those who actively seek assistance.

WASHINGTON – In his most extensive comments on mental health challenges facing American forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that many military personnel fear a stigma if they seek help for psychological injuries.

The critique was delivered by Mr. Gates as the keynote address during a “Mental Health Summit” convened by Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs who previously served as Army chief of staff.

The two secretaries have pledged that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs would improve how they share information so that the delivery of benefits could be streamlined, even as both acknowledged that the two current, long wars have brought attention to the types of invisible injuries often ignored in the past.

Read the full article.