1. Mental Health Screening
in the Military

2. Risk Timeline
Application
Acceptance
to Service
Deployment
Combat
PTSD

3. Army Standards of
Medical Fitness
Dis-
quali-
fication
Should
Result
From
Disorders with psychotic features.
“Neurotic, anxiety, mood, somatoform,
dissociative, or factitious disorders.”
“Personality, conduct, and behavior
disorders.”

4. Mental Illness Rate of Accepted Applicants
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
General Population Accepted Military Applicants
Mental Illness Percentage

5. Two Questions
1.
•How are applicants
screened?
2.
•How are active
service members
assessed/treated?

6. 1. Applicant Screening
Apply
Medical
Prescreen
Exam at
Military
Entrance
Processing
Station
Acceptance
into Service

7. 2. Active Duty Assessment/Treatment
Self Reporting
Commander/Supervisor Required MHE
DoD Survey of HRB
Pre-Deployment Assessment
Post Deployment Health Assessment
Post Deployment Health Reassessment

8. 2. (cont.) Treatment

9. Analysis of Military Policy/Procedure
Pre-Deployment Post Deployment
Access to Care
Changing
Attitude
Good

10. Analysis (cont.)
Applicants = Self
Report Only
Lack of Mandatory
Periodical Testing
Mental Illness
Stigma
Unnecessary
Discharge
Bad

11. Practical Means for Improvement
Face-to-face exam of applicants
• Mandatory periodical mental health assessments
Reassessment of previous adjustment and
personality disorder discharges
• Emphasis on mental illness in public conversation and
continuing steps away from weakness connotation

12. Sources
• Certain Health Issues Can Make It Hard to
Join, MILITARY.COM, http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/disqualifiers-
medical-conditions.html (last visited Mar. 29, 2014).
• Alan Zarembo, High Rate of Mental Illness in Recruits, LA TIMES (Mar.
4, 2014), http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/04/local/la-me-army-mental-
illness-20140304.
• The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL
HEALTH, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-
disorders-in-america/index.shtml#Intro (last visited Mar. 29, 2014).
• “Report of Medical History,” DD Form 2807-1, Aug. 2011.
• “Medical Prescreen of Medical History Report,” DD Form 2807-2, Aug. 2011.
• COMMITTEE ON THE YOUTH POPULATION AND MILITARY RECRUITMENT: PHYSICAL, MEDICAL, AND
MENTAL HEALTH STANDARDS, NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL
ACADEMIES, ASSESSING FITNESS FOR MILITARY ENLISTMENT: PHYSICAL, MEDICAL, AND MENTAL
HEALTH STANDARDS 24-25 (Paul R. Sackett & Anne S. Mavor eds., 2006) .
• Military Entrance Processing Stations, UNITED STATES MILITARY ENTRANCE PROCESSING
COMMAND, http://www.mepcom.army.mil/meps/ (last visited Mar. 30, 2014).

13. Sources (cont.)
• About Military OneSource, MILITARY
ONESOURCE, http://www.militaryonesource.mil/footer?content_id=267441 (last
visited Mar. 31, 2014).
• Army Behavioral Health, Pre-Deployment Information, U.S. ARMY MED’L
DEPT., http://www.behavioralhealth.army.mil/pre-deploy/index.html (last visited
Apr. 1, 2014).
• Army Behavioral Health, Frequently Asked Questions, U.S. ARMY MED’L
DEPT., http://www.behavioralhealth.army.mil/tools/faqscomb.html (last visited Apr.
1, 2014).
• Patricia Kime, Adjustment Disorder May Now Net Disability Pay, MILITARY TIMES
(Oct. 11, 2013, 4:58
PM), http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20131011/NEWS/310110027/Adjustm
ent-disorder-may-now-net-disability-pay.
• Patricia Kime, Former Soldier Sues Army for Alleged Wrongful Mental Health
Discharge, MILITARY TIMES (Nov. 21, 2013, 6:00
AM), http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20131121/NEWS/311210023/Former-
soldier-sues-Army-alleged-wrongful-mental-health-discharge.
• Parity for Patriots: The Mental Health Needs of Military Personnel, Veterans and
Their Families, NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS, June 2012, at 4.
• “Mental Health Evaluations of Members of the Military Services,” DoD Instruction
No. 6490.04, Mar. 4, 2013.