Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed

The numbers went up for several reasons.
Publicity when people started to talk about it, what they were going through, overcoming the sense of shame because they understood it was not their fault. Families talking about it especially when a life was ended because of suicide. Families and the troops being paid attention to by the media.

Knowledge gained by mental health workers so they could understand that this was the result of multiple exposures to traumatic events.

The time span when multiple deployments caught up to them. The time span between the contributing event and the symptoms showed up. The stressor that broke the dam of emotions sending mild PTSD into full blown disorder.

Above all of this was when the military stopped trying to find a way out of approving claims that could be directly tied to combat. Hearing the military was honoring the claims of others gave them hope of being helped to heal. If they saw someone like them being helped instead of being belittled or kicked out, they were more likely to seek help as well.

Most of this work will be undone if they are still practicing cover-ups instead of honoring the service of the individuals paying the price for service.

After that, the annual number of personality disorder cases dropped by 75 percent. Only 260 soldiers were discharged on those grounds in 2009.

At the same time, the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has soared. By 2008, more than 14,000 soldiers had been diagnosed with PTSD — twice as many as two years before.

Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed
By ANNE FLAHERTY (AP) – 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely fired hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests.

Under pressure from Congress and the public, the Army later acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of soldiers given the designation. But advocates for veterans say an unknown number of troops still unfairly bear the stigma of a personality disorder, making them ineligible for military health care and other benefits.

"We really have an obligation to go back and make sure troops weren't misdiagnosed," said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist whose nonprofit "Give an Hour" connects troops with volunteer mental health professionals.

The Army denies that any soldier was misdiagnosed before 2008, when it drastically cut the number of discharges due to personality disorders and diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorders skyrocketed.

Unlike PTSD, which the Army regards as a treatable mental disability caused by the acute stresses of war, the military designation of a personality disorder can have devastating consequences for soldiers.

Defined as a "deeply ingrained maladaptive pattern of behavior," a personality disorder is considered a "pre-existing condition" that relieves the military of its duty to pay for the person's health care or combat-related disability pay.

According to figures provided by the Army, the service discharged about a 1,000 soldiers a year between 2005 and 2007 for having a personality disorder.
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Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed