Tie psych treatment to disability pay

This sounds like a great idea but don't you think they should have a program in place that actually works first? All of these programs and the rate of suicides has gone up kind of shows they still don't have their ammo against PTSD locked or loaded.

Marine: Tie psych treatment to disability pay
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 14, 2011 12:01:19 EDT
A Marine combat veteran who suffered a mental breakdown as a result of war-related trauma said he might have received earlier help if his disability pay had been contingent upon his getting treatment.

Daniel J. Hanson, 27, who said he spent his disability checks on “booze and strip clubs,” said he needed a push from the Veterans Affairs Department to get help that never came until he attempted suicide and ended up in a faith-based program called Minnesota Teen Challenge.

Testifying on Tuesday before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Hanson said he never asked for help in the Marine Corps, and VA’s help wasn’t enough. In the Marines, Hanson said the fact he was an administrative specialist surrounded by infantrymen made him reluctant to speak up. “In a battalion of 1,000 Marines, I didn’t think anyone wanted to hear my complaining,” he said.

At VA, he did receive some help but said the program “lacked any sort of discipline.”
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Tie psych treatment to disability pay