Troops urged to seek help for mental health

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday urged troops to get psychiatric counseling for wartime mental health problems, saying it's "not going to count against them" later if they apply for national security clearances for sensitive jobs.

Gates announced a new policy under which troops and civilian defense employees will no longer have to reveal previous mental health treatment unless it was court-ordered or involved violence.

He spoke to reporters after visiting a new center at Fort Bliss designed to treat soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gates called PTSD one of the "unseen wounds" of war. He said there are two issues in dealing with it; the first is the task of developing care and treatment.

"The second, and in some ways perhaps equally challenging, is to remove the stigma that is associated with PTSD and to encourage soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who encounter these problems to seek help," he said.

Later, Gates told nearly 900 command sergeants major and instructors at Fort Bliss that senior leaders must consider the stress on the force — "stress that has been greatly increased in recent years" as fighting continues in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gates noted revelations of substandard care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the poor housing conditions at Fort Bragg, N.C.

There have been mistakes, he acknowledged, adding that "things happen too slowly. It takes too long for decisions to get made at the Pentagon and then to get implemented. ... I share your frustration."

Thousands of troops are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with war-related anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. But many hesitate to get psychiatric care because they fear that could cost them their security clearances.

A question on the application for security clearances has long asked federal employees whether they have consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years.

The new question allows them to answer "No" if the counseling was for any of the following reasons and was not court-ordered:

•Strictly marital, family or grief counseling not related to their own violent behavior.
•Strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment.