Suicidal troops not getting care

Report: Many also are given harmful drugs

Pentagon health WASHINGTON care providers failed to perform crucial follow-up for many troops diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome who also were at high risk for suicide, according to a study released Monday by the RAND Corp.

Just 30% of troops with depression and 54% with PTSD received appropriate care after they were declared at risk of harming themselves. The report, commissioned by the Pentagon, examined the cases of 39,000 troops who had been diagnosed in 2013 with depression, PTSD or both conditions. USA TODAY received an advance copy of the report.

“We want to ensure that they get connected with behavioral health care,” said Kimberly Hepner, the report’s lead author and a senior behavioral scientist at RAND, a non-partisan, non-profit research organization. “The most immediate action — removal of firearms — can help reduce risk of suicide attempts.”

Just 30% of troops with depression and 54% with PTSD received appropriate care after they were found to be at risk of harming themselves.

The report, titled “Quality of Care for PTSD and Depression in the Military Health System,” also found that one-third of troops with PTSD were prescribed a medication harmful to their condition.

From 2001 to 2014, about 2.6 million troops have been deployed to combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Estimates on how many have suffered post-traumatic stress vary widely — from 4% to 20%, the report says.

Meanwhile, suicide among troops spiked crisis proportions. The rate of suicide doubled from 2005 to 2012, according to the Pentagon. It has stabilized but has not diminished.

The key to suicide intervention involves talking to the service member about his or her access to firearms, Hepner said.

It’s also one of the most sensitive, given the nature of their work and that many troops own their own guns.

“This is important for service members because suicide death by firearms is the most common method,” Hepner said. “So the provider needs to have that discussion about access to firearms.”

Guns accounted for 68% of suicides by active-duty troops in 2014, according to the Pentagon.

Commanders can be enlisted to put weapons out of troops’ reach, and family members also may be asked to do so, she said. One reason that doesn’t happen more often, she said, is the stigma attached to mental illness.

Researchers found that onethird of troops with depression had received a prescription for benzodiazepine, an anti-anxiety medication. Those troops need psychotherapy, not benzodiazepine, Hepner said.

Laura Ochoa, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Sunday: “The report findings and recommendations are being reviewed and will be used to shape our future direction.”