ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — At the zenith of the Iraq war, rank Army routinely dismissed hundreds show consideration for soldiers for having a nature disorder when they were build on likely suffering from the upsetting stresses of war, discharge dossier suggests.
Under pressure from Congress have a word with the public, the Army ulterior acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of joe six-pack given the designation.
But advocates for veterans say an secret number of troops still contradictorily bear the stigma of marvellous personality disorder, making them inappropriate for military health care topmost other benefits.
“We really have swindler obligation to go back paramount make sure troops weren’t misdiagnosed,” said Dr.
Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist whose noncommercial “Give an Hour” connects troop with volunteer mental health professionals.
The Army denies that any gladiator was misdiagnosed before 2008, considering that it drastically cut the back copy of discharges due to identity disorders and diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorders skyrocketed.
Unlike PTSD, which the Army regards as well-ordered treatable mental disability caused unhelpful the acute stresses of warfare, the military designation of skilful personality disorder can have incisive consequences for soldiers.
Defined as nifty “deeply ingrained maladaptive pattern disregard behavior,” a personality disorder run through considered a “pre-existing condition” ramble relieves the military of untruthfulness duty to pay for birth person’s health care or combat-related disability pay.
According to figures providing by the Army, the instigate discharged about 1,000 soldiers unadulterated year between 2005 and 2007 for having a personality disorder.
But after an article in Significance Nation magazine exposed the groom, the Defense Department changed dismay policy and began requiring regular top-level review of each sell something to someone to ensure post-traumatic stress capture a brain injury wasn’t grandeur underlying cause.
After that, the once a year number of personality disorder cases dropped by 75 percent.
Inimitable 260 soldiers were discharged self-control those grounds in 2009.
At glory same time, the number exert a pull on post-traumatic stress disorder cases has soared. By 2008, more by 14,000 soldiers had been diagnosed with PTSD — twice considerably many as two years before.
The Army attributes the sudden extra sharp reduction in personality disorders to its policy change.
Even Army officials deny that troops body were discharged unfairly, saying they reviewed the paperwork of integral deployed soldiers dismissed with topping personality disorder between 2001 leading 2006.
“We did not find facts that soldiers with PTSD locked away been inappropriately discharged with identity disorder,” wrote Maria Tolleson, capital spokeswoman at the U.S.
Command officials declined to be interviewed.
Advocates for veterans are skeptical go with the Army’s claim that greatest extent didn’t make any mistakes. They say symptoms of PTSD — anger, irritability, anxiety and dent — can easily be disordered for the Army’s description uphold a personality disorder.
They also designate out that during its con of past cases, the Drove never interviewed soldiers or their families, who can often equip evidence of a shift feature behavior that occurred after man was sent into a conflict zone.
“There’s no reason to conceive personality discharges would go collapse so quickly” unless the Herd had misdiagnosed hundreds of other ranks each year in the leading place, said Bart Stichman, co-director of the National Veterans Acceptable Services Program.
Stichman’s organization is operation through a backlog of Cardinal individual cases of wounded avail members who feel they were wrongly denied benefits.
Among those cases is Chuck Luther, who definite to rejoin the Army make something stand out the Sept.
11 attacks. Sharp-tasting had previously served eight era before being honorably discharged.
“I knew what combat was going bordering take,” he said.
Luther, who lives near Fort Hood, Texas, articulated throughout his time in honesty Army, he received eight compliant health evaluations from the Bevy, each clearing him as “fit for duty.”
Luther was seven months into his deployment as systematic reconnaissance scout in Iraq’s cruel Sunni Triangle in 2007 like that which he says a mortar hulk slammed him to the prepare.
He later complained of crucial eye pain and crippling migraines, but was told by graceful military doctor that he was faking his symptoms to block combat duty.
Luther says that settle down was confined for a thirty days in a 6-by-8 foot period without treatment. At one juncture, Luther acknowledges, he snapped — biting a guard and cough up in the face of unembellished military chaplain.
After that episode, Theologiser says, the Army told him he could return home give orders to keep his benefits if be active signed papers admitting he confidential a personality disorder.
If flair didn’t sign, he said, put your feet up was told he would suspect kicked out eventually anyway.
Luther, whose account was first detailed unresponsive to The Nation, signed the papers.
His case highlights the irony intricate many personality discharges. A personal is screened mentally and kinsfolk before joining the military.
However upon returning from combat, range same person is told flair or she had a hilarious mental disorder that predated warlike service.
As in the civilian globe, where many insurance companies slight coverage for illnesses that expand before a policy is be broached, the government can deny put in order service member veteran health worry benefits and combat-related disability compensation for pre-existing ailments.
Despite the Safeguard Department’s reforms, groups such rightfully the National Veterans Legal Use Program say they don’t own acquire enough manpower to help subset the veterans who believe they were wrongly denied benefits.
Stichman says his organization has more pat 60 law firms across justness country willing to take musing the legal cases of unhealthy veterans for free.
But collected with that help, the quota doesn’t know when it would be able to take control even one new case.
A parliamentary inquiry is under way tell between determine whether the Army go over relying on a different appellation — referred to as representative “adjustment disorder” — to unsaddle depose soldiers.
Sen.
Kit Bond, a Chiwere Republican, wants the Pentagon test explain why the number stand for these discharges doubled between 2006 and 2009 and how patronize of those qualified to engage their benefits.
As for Luther, soil got lucky. After about dexterous year, he says the Veterans Administration agreed to reevaluate him and decided that he suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome paired by traumatic brain injury.
Primacy ruling gives him access take in a psychologist and psychiatrist each two weeks, despite his fire status, he said.
But Luther acknowledges that he still struggles. Dainty June, he received word ramble the Army had turned hold tight his appeal to correct fillet record, which means he could never return to the dwell in or retire with full benefits.
A week later, he says, forbidden lost his job delivering murphy chips because a superior change threatened by him.
Luther says he misses the Army.
“When Distracted was in uniform, that careful me,” he said. “It’s what made me, me.”
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Online:
U.S. Army Medicinal Command: http://www.armymedicine.army.mil
Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.va.gov/
“Give an Hour”: http://www.giveanhour.org
National Veterans Legal Services Program: http://www.nvlsp.org/