Who thought civilians treating soldiers for PTSD was a good idea?

Civilian psych staff doubled since 2007
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 22, 2012 11:20:30 EDT
As soldiers have increasingly struggled with post-traumatic stress, suicide and drug abuse, the Army has added thousands of civilian mental health specialists to treat troops and their families.

Army Medical Command reports it has more than doubled its inventory of civilian behavioral health care providers since 2007, with 1,985 hires. In five years, the service’s civilian corps gained 819 social workers, 510 psychologists and 73 psychiatrists, in large part due to an increase in congressional funding after the patient-care scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007.

Amid lengthy deployments and 10 years of war, the Army has seen behavioral health needs rise among troops. Since 2003, more than 70,000 soldiers have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress. Last year alone, 278 suicides were reported in the active force, National Guard and Reserve, and more than 24,000 soldiers were referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program.
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