By Hope Yen - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 12, 2007 17:52:28 EDT
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s top health official said Thursday he wants to see better mental health assessments, stronger privacy protections and a “buddy system” to change the military’s stigma against seeking help for anxiety and depression.
Speaking to Congress as the military rushes to improve its much-criticized mental health system, S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, also acknowledged that the Army’s touted plans to hire 25 percent more mental health specialists could prove hard to fulfill for a while because of problems in recruiting and retaining active-duty professionals.
“It’s not easy to get people into the military,” said Casscells, referring to plans by Army Surgeon General Gail Pollock. “We cannot hire 200 Army psychiatrists, which General Pollock wants to do, we can’t do that overnight. So we need everyone to reach out and look out for service members.”
More at http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/07/ap_troopsmentalhealth_070712/
