Military Mental Health Probe Widens

Military Mental Health Probe Widens After NPR-ProPublica Report
06:36 pm
June 11, 2010


by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR

Responding to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Friday that he would expand a hearing on soldier suicides to include a more extensive discussion of the military’s handling of traumatic brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder.

"The recent NPR and ProPublica reports on the military's diagnosis, treatment, and tracking of traumatic brain injuries are concerning," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a prepared statement.

NPR and ProPublica reported this week that the military was failing to diagnose soldiers with so-called mild traumatic brain injuries. Such injuries, also called concussions, are typically difficult to detect but can cause lasting mental and physical difficulties.

Unpublished military studies and interviews with medical officials suggest there could be tens of thousands of soldiers suffering undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries, which have been called one of the wars' signature wounds. When soldiers were diagnosed, many received little or no treatment, even at large bases such as Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

Soldiers with traumatic brain injury often also suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a debilitating psychological wound. Those who survive roadside blasts can suffer both a brain injury and PTSD, which can be triggered by the terror of the event.

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