title: Mental health treatment experiences of U.S. service members previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the mental health treatment experiences of active-duty U.S. service members who received treatment from primary care or specialty mental health providers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A national sample of active-duty service members (N=1,659) was surveyed about mental health treatment experiences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 17% of respondents reported receipt of mental health care in the prior 12 months. Three times as many service members had seen a specialty mental health provider (14%) as had seen a primary care provider (5%). Of those who had seen a specialty provider, 79% thought treatment helped "a lot or some" and none stated that treatment was "not at all" helpful. Of those who had seen a primary care provider, only 51% thought treatment had helped a lot or some and 15% viewed treatment as not helping at all.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patterns of utilization and perceptions of treatment should be considered when addressing the unmet mental health needs of service members.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA. ewong@rand.org
authors.forename: Eunice C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Terry L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Schell
authors.forename: Lisa H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Jaycox
authors.forename: Grant N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Terri
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanielian
authors.forename: Jeremy N V
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Miles
mesh_terms: D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013038:Specialization; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States