U.S. plans to hire 1,000 mental health workers for war vets

Comments

 SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

» 410 days ago: U.S. plans to hire 1,000 mental health workers for war vets «

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will attempt to hire 1,000 mental health professionals in the next three to six months to deal with the large number of soldiers returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said Monday at a mental health forum in Alexandria.

Of the 650,000 veterans of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, 250,000 have sought medical services through the department, department Secretary James Nicholson said. One-third of those seeking treatment have needed mental health care, he said.

“The wounds of war are not always evident in severed limbs and torn flesh,” he said. “They can sometimes be unseen and cloaked inside us, and if left untreated, they can be just as lethal.”

The staff increase will be a challenge, Nicholson said. “There is a finite amount of this expertise, and it’s attenuated when you want someone then to go practice in a rural area,” he said.

The department plans to add mental health services at more than 100 VA medical centers to fight resistance to seeking help for depression and other illnesses, and to open 23 new veteran centers and begin a suicide-prevention hotline for veterans, he said. Veterans in rural areas will have more access to “telemental health,” where they can talk to a psychiatrist via a video link on their home computer, Nicholson said.

A recent Pentagon study found that 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines report psychological conditions such as brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from deployment. Among members of the National Guard, the figure is much higher — 49 percent.

The department spends $3 billion annually on mental health and has enough money in the 2008 budget for the expanded services, Nicholson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

» 410 days ago: U.S. plans to hire 1,000 mental health workers for war vets «