Transformation of Mental Health Care for U.S. Soldiers and Families During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: Where Science and Politics Intersect.

The cumulative strain of 14 years of war on service members, veterans, and their families, together with continuing global threats and the unique stresses of military service, are likely to be felt for years to come. Scientific as well as political factors have influenced how the military has addressed the mental health needs resulting from these wars. Two important differences between mental health care delivered during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and previous wars are the degree to which research has directly informed care and the consolidated management of services.

Aminoguanidine mitigates apoptosis, testicular seminiferous tubules damage, and oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of aminoguanidine (AG) against testicular damage streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes. Thirty two rats were separated into four groups: control, AG, STZ and STZ+AG. In the STZ group, 12.

Ameliorative effects of aminoguanidine on rat aorta in Streptozotocin-induced diabetes and evaluation of α-SMA expression.

Objective: Diabetes mellitus is one of the chronic metabolic diseases which is characterized by microvascular and macrovascular complications. This study was designed to investigate the improving the effects of amnioguanidine on aortic damage in a streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rat model.

Methods: Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats divided into four groups as follows: Control, Aminoguanidine, Diabetes, and Diabetes+Aminoguanidine.

Soldier peer mentoring care and support: bringing psychological awareness to the front.

Since the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991, the operational tempo for soldiers has steadily increased, whereas the numbers of soldiers available to fulfill these missions has decreased. As a result, soldiers and their families are experiencing increased levels of stress that continue to manifest in ways that can often be destructive for the soldiers, their families, and the Army community. Current mitigation and identification support systems such as the Chain of Command, noncommissioned officer leadership, chaplains, and family support systems have all provided critical services, but may not be expected to optimally perform necessary early risk management assessment.

The occupational burden of mental disorders in theU.S. military: psychiatric hospitalizations, involuntary separations, and disability.

Objective: A recent study showed that among U.S. military personnel, mental disorders were the leading medical correlate of separation from military service.

Priorities for psychiatric research in the U.S. military: an epidemiological approach.

Among the 1.4 million active duty U.S.

Development of a brief questionnaire to measure mental health outcomes among Pentagon employees following the September 11, 2001 attack.

In the aftermath of the terrorist action at the Pentagon there was a critical operational need to understand and document the extent of injuries, illnesses, and exposures sustained by Service members and civilian employees at the Pentagon. It was decided to develop and administer a brief questionnaire to the Pentagon employees that would contain questions about exposures, new or worsening injuries or illnesses, mental health, and factors suggested by the literature to increase risk or be protective for these outcomes. This report describes the development the mental health portion of this questionnaire.

Principles guiding implementation of the Operation Solace plan: "Pieces of PIES," therapy by walking around, and care management.

Operation Solace is the name given to a post-September 11, 2002 plan directed by the Army Surgeon General to proactively address the predictable behavioral health distress/disorders and related somatic phenomenon expected to occur among the Pentagon employees, family members, and Department of Defense beneficiaries located in the National Capitol Region affected by the terrorist attack. Using well-known and also relatively novel preventive population-based methodologies for minimizing the post-attack behavioral health-related morbidity resulted in the evolution of simplified principles ("Pieces of PIES") and methods (Therapy by Walking around and Care Management), which are briefly elaborated in this article.

Operation Solace: overview of the mental health intervention following the September 11, 2001 Pentagon attack.

At the direction of the Army Surgeon General, the Army behavioral health consultants in psychiatry, psychology, and social work assembled in Washington, DC immediately after the September 11, 2001 attack to plan and implement a proactive behavioral health response to the Pentagon attack. The goal was to minimize the short- and long-term adverse behavioral health and related medical effects predicted to emerge based on past U.S.

Mental disorders among U.S. military personnel in the 1990s: association with high levels of health care utilization and early military attrition.

Objective: Epidemiological studies have shown that mental disorders are associated with reduced health-related quality of life, high levels of health care utilization, and work absenteeism. However, measurement of the burden of mental disorders by using population-based methods in large working populations, such as the U.S.

Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory profiles and maladjustment in the military: preliminary findings.

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) profiles of 69 active duty male soldiers who presented to an outpatient mental health clinic for a broad range of problems are compared to a local normative sample of 84 males. The clinical and comparison groups differed significantly on all 20 scales. In agreement with previous findings, the mean profile for the clinical group was a 2 (Avoidant)-8 (Passive-Aggressive) codetype, whereas the comparison group showed a 5 (Narcissistic)-6 (Antisocial) codetype.

Differences in self- and supervisor-referrals to a military mental health clinic.

Supervisor- and self-referrals for outpatient mental health care were studied to determine demographic and clinical differences. Supervisor-referrals (n = 730) were younger, reported fewer problems, and received less severe diagnoses than the self-referrals. Self-referrals (n = 1,103) received more depressive and anxiety diagnoses and more medications.

Clients, problems, and diagnoses in a military community mental health clinic: a 20-month study.

A descriptive epidemiologic study was performed using intake data from an Army community mental health clinic. This clinic was on a U.S.

Reframing of an addiction via hypnotherapy: a case presentation.

A chemically dependent man was treated using hypnotherapy and related psychotherapeutic techniques. I started by taking a psychosocial history and then introduced such interventions as pattern interruption and symbolic task assignments to establish initial sobriety. The majority of the sessions focused on age regressing the patient to events correlating to drug and alcohol abuse.

An evaluation of patients who received an organic mental disorder diagnosis on a psychiatric consultation-liaison service.

The authors conducted comprehensive medical record reviews of 100 medical and surgical patients who received an organic mental disorder diagnosis by the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison (C/L) Service of a large teaching hospital. The cases were randomly selected from among 182 patients with an organic mental disorder diagnosis, who, in turn, were drawn from 1085 consecutive psychiatric consultations conducted during a 1-year period. Dementia (34%) and delirium (32%) constituted the most common diagnoses.

Inpatient participation in treatment planning: a preliminary report.

This study investigated the effect of patient participation in treatment planning conferences (TPCs) upon length of hospitalization and upon the frequency of military soldiers being returned to duty. Patients with major affective disorders and schizophrenic disorders showed an 8.2% decrease in hospital stay whereas patients with minor affective disorders, personality disorders, substance abuse, and adjustment disorders showed a 98.

Psychiatric consultations in a military general hospital. A report on 1065 cases.

The authors describe the demographic and diagnostic characteristics of 1065 medical and surgical inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation over a 1-year period at a military medical center. The referral rate was 5.8% of all hospital admissions with the percentage of referrals from surgical and neurology services being higher than recent civilian studies.