Editorial: Veterans need action on mental health care

The nation was quick to enter wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and slow to realize the mental toll on troops. As a result, soldiers – many of whom signed up for the reserves rather than active duty – continue to pay a heavy price.

A U.S. Senate-commissioned survey of mental health professionals working for the Department of Veterans Affairs found that 70 percent of them believe the VA lacks the staff and space to handle growing caseloads. More than 37 percent of them say they cannot meet the VA’s standard of scheduling appointments within two weeks. At the Spokane Veterans Affairs Center, the three-week wait time is longer than the national average, because 40 percent of its therapy staff departed in the past year. Some retired. Some got ill. Some took jobs elsewhere.

VA centers across the nation are getting more patients. After a slow shift in military culture, the Defense Department began encouraging combat veterans to be evaluated for mental health illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress. The VA initiated improvements such as telephone hotlines, around-the-clock emergency psychiatric care, additional beds and suicide-prevention programs, but clinics have not been able to keep up with increased demand.

Quinn Bastian, head of behavioral health at the Spokane VA, told The Spokesman-Review, “The big focus for VA for the last couple of years has been to make sure when people come to our attention that we get them plugged into care quickly.”

That emphasis was a reaction to the alarming number of suicides among veterans – a total of 21 in the Spokane area between the summers of 2007 and 2008. On average, 18 veterans commit suicide every day across the United States.

The VA says it takes this latest survey seriously but also notes that it might have been rushed and that it contradicts some of its own findings. That response has U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., worried that the VA won’t act until it conducts a lengthy inquiry. Her concern is valid.

Returning troops shouldn’t have to wait for another survey to see if they’re waiting too long to access care. They should be given the benefit of the doubt, given all that they’ve been through. In many circumstances, it is a matter of life or death.

The good news is that the U.S. is drawing down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and military leadership is adjusting how it handles deployments. The Army Times reports that the Army has changed to a nine-month deployment schedule followed by two full years at home. This “dwell time” offers a needed respite for troops that have been deployed up to seven times, with stints as long as 15 months. The stress from that grinding schedule not only contributed to suicides, it led to an increased number of military children killed through abuse and neglect, according to a Military Times investigation.

The military has responded to the need for combat veterans to avail themselves of mental health care. Now the government needs to work on increasing the number of providers to meet the new demand.