title: Career impacts and referral patterns: Army mental health treatment in the combat theater.
abstract: This study examined the relationships between referral source, career impacts, and diagnostic severity among service members seeking mental health intervention in a deployed setting. Data were drawn from the mental health records of 1,640 Army service members presenting for outpatient mental health services while deployed in Afghanistan. Results suggested that self-referrals were significantly less likely to have contact made with their command or to experience potentially career impacting recommendations. Overall, greater than 80% of military personnel were returned to duty with no limits and 60% were assigned either no diagnosis or a mild/moderate diagnosis. These findings indicate that seeking psychological services is much less likely to impact a service member's career when self-initiated. Given the significant concerns about career impacts among many service members in need of psychological services, these findings should be incorporated in information campaigns to promote early help seeking.
authors.affiliation: 48 MDOS/CC, RAF Lakenheath, Unit 5210 Box 230, APO, AE 09461-0230.
authors.forename: Anderson B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Rowan
authors.affiliation: Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, 2200 Bergquist Drive, Suite 1, Lackland Air Force Base, TX 78236.
authors.forename: Colleen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.affiliation: 72 MDOS/SGOW, 5700 Arnold Street, Tinker Air Force Base, OK 73145.
authors.forename: Spencer P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.affiliation: Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, 2200 Bergquist Drive, Suite 1, Lackland Air Force Base, TX 78236.
authors.forename: Denise M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Martin Zona
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D002322:Career Mobility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology