Military tells troops to seek help but won't write what they tell?

I was driving today for a meeting and heard Larry Scott on the Thom Hartman Show. (Yes, I listen to Air America because I get a lot of great information from most of their shows.) Larry is a regular guest. Today he was talking about this "measure" to ease the stigma of PTSD and I almost slammed on the breaks. How could the DOD think this was a good move for the troops? Not writing anything down? Are they out of their minds?

It sounds like a good idea just as the change from calling mental health "mental health" and now they call it "behavioral" instead, but when you think about it, it seems to do more harm than good. It's not like the troops with PTSD are "problem children" needing to go to the principal's office. They need help healing with what they just went through like every other human on the planet. Still not writing anything down, in other words, documentation of the visits they have seeking help, they will have a hell of a time proving a PTSD claim later on when they try to go to the VA. Larry is right on the mark on this one as usual. He hardly ever gets it wrong.

ARMY MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM A PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER
(07-17-09)New "Don't Write Anything Down" program is bad medicine and could lead to denied VA benefits
NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... There's the right way, the wrong way and the Army way. Only this time, the Army way really IS the wrong way.

Would you trust a health professional who didn't write down anything?

Well, that's what the Army is doing to try to help ease the stigma of seeking mental health care. Oops ... I'm sorry ... I forgot that the Army now offers behavioral health care, not mental health care (article here). You can change the name but it won't make the problems go away!

If the counselors don't write down anything, I see two major problems, both of which could cause many problems down the road:

1. Where is the record of care? In someone's head? Does this mean that every time the GI sees a new counselor he / she has to start over because they know nothing of previous counseling sessions? What about prescriptions? Are they written down? This is the worst of BAD medicine and can only hurt those who participate in the program.

2. If there is no record, what happens when the GI applies for VA benefits somewhere down the line? "I'm sorry Veteran, nobody wrote down a word of the sessions you CLAIM you had with mental health professionals." This is a recipe for no benefits!
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