Children of U.S.military troops: mental health care doubles and inpatient hospitalization increases

From the Philly AP news article:

More troops' children seeking mental help

By Kimberly Hefling

Associated Press

"Children of U.S. military troops sought outpatient mental-health care two million times last year, double the number at the start of the Iraq war, and there was also an alarming spike in the number of military kids hospitalized for mental-health reasons.

Internal Pentagon documents show the increases, which come as the services struggle with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a shortage of therapists.

The total number of outpatient mental-health visits for children of active-duty men and women doubled from one million in 2003, the year of the Iraq invasion, to two million in 2008, the documents show. Yearly bed days for military children age 14 and under increased from 35,000 to 55,000 over the same period."

Evidence of domestic violence and child neglect among military families, as well as an increase in suicide, alcohol abuse, and cases of post-traumatic stress, are all troubling signs, she told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee. She and other military spouses testified that gaining access to mental-health care was a problem.

At summer camps organized by the National Military Family Association for about 10,000 children, most of them kids of deployed soldiers, there have been more anecdotal reports this year of young people taking medication, and showing signs of severe homesickness, anxiety, or depression, said Patricia Barron, who runs the association's youth initiatives."

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