WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Many U.S. military personnel and their families are going without mental healthcare due to limited availability, a new study says.
"Deployment can be a complex, and for some families, overwhelming process," said Michelle D. Sherman, co-chair of the American Psychological Association task force that authored the report.
The authors praise military mental-healthcare providers but say that overall, the military system falls short in its ability to meet the psychological health needs of deployed personnel and their families.
Reduced access to care due to long waiting lists, limited clinic hours, breakdowns in the referral process and hard-to-reach locations also make it difficult for returning military personnel and their family members to get help.
Another significant barrier is the fact that there is a 40 percent vacancy rate for psychologists in active duty posts, the study found.
Deployment is a serious emotional stressor for members of the military and their families, the report says, especially when they are young families experiencing their first deployment or recently moved to a new duty station.
Currently, 700,000 children in the U.S. are also coping with the stress of having at least one parent deployed overseas -- one of the most stressful events a child can experience, according to the task force.
To address the problem, the task force recommends establishing central leadership of military mental-health services, recruiting more psychologists and providing more funding.
The report also recommends educating military leadership on the importance of mental healthcare to reduce the stigma associated with treatment.
