Military Often Fails To Inform Soldiers Of Mental Health Resources

(IntegrityPress.org) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report that sheds light on failings by the U.S. military to help its veterans manage their mental health after service.

The GAO found that a significant number of military members were left unaware of a service designed to assist their transition into civilian life. The DOD is under pressure to improve mental health support for military personnel, particularly for those leaving the forces. The GAO report found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in the first year after leaving the armed forces compared to those still in active service.

The report looked at the Department of Defense’s (DOD) inTransition program, which is designed to connect military personnel with mental health services. The program targets personnel undergoing a significant change in their military career, such as returning from deployment or a total exit from the military.

Initially set up in 2010, it was intended to improve the mental health outcomes for veterans after a report found that many were disengaging from the care provided by the military. The report found that a large number of veterans stopped making use of available care once they were transferred from military health services to those provided by the Veterans Affairs Department.

Up to 85% of those targeted by the inTransition program are automatically enrolled. According to GAO, however, 72% of those automatically enrolled in 2022 were never contacted by those facilitating the inTransition program. According to the data provided, two-thirds of those were not contacted because they failed to answer or return phone calls. With phone calls used as the sole method of contact, this presented a major issue for the effectiveness of the program.

As of the beginning of 2024, however, the program facilitators still had no plans to include contact by email as part of its procedure. The GAO report recommended that the program take a more proactive stance in engaging potential service users. It recommended enrolling personnel prior to their exit from the military and using email or text messages to make contact.