Hope for 31,000 discharged under Personality Disorder instead of PTSD

Bill would review discharges for possible PTSD
Marine Corps Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 6, 2013

More than 31,000 discharges for service members diagnosed with personality or adjustment disorders would be reviewed to see if those troops actually suffered from post-traumatic stress, under legislation introduced Tuesday by Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn.

The bill, HR 975, is endorsed by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which is concerned that misdiagnoses of mental disorders are cheating veterans out of benefits. The Wounded Warrior Project also supports the bill.

Personality disorders and adjustment disorders are considered to have existed before service members joined the military, making them ineligible for disability compensation and mental health treatment. There are particular concerns that the diagnoses have been inappropriately used to discharge victims of sexual assault.

Not only are those veterans denied benefits, but the diagnosis also appears on their discharge papers, which can stigmatize them and make it harder to find civilian employment.

Walz, a retired Minnesota Army National Guard command sergeant major — the highest-ranking former enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress — has been a champion of a variety of veterans’ causes. “After fighting for our country overseas, I am absolutely appalled that our brave warriors may have been improperly discharged and left without the care they need to reintegrate into the lives they once knew,” he said. “Action must be taken to correct the record.”
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