Mental Health and Military Family Members

Mental health treatment for military family members has grown 15 percent annually since 2001

This is the fifth story in an ongoing series

03/01/2011 - Visits by family members of active-duty military personnel to mental health professionals have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent since 2001, the Military Health System disclosed in a report to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 1.

The report, sent to the committee by Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs, said demand for behavioral health services has increased due to the eligible number of beneficiaries and "the stresses of repeated deployments."

The mental heath impact on families of multiple deployments mirrors the effects those deployments have on the troops. The Army reported in a July 2009 survey that troops deployed to Iraq on their third or fourth tour had lower morale and more mental health problems. {continued w/link to earlier series reports}