May 1, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon Thursday urged troops to get psychiatric counseling for wartime mental health problems, saying it will not be used to deny them security clearances for sensitive jobs.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a new policy under which troops and civilian defense employees will no longer have to reveal previous mental health treatment unless it was court-ordered or involved violence.
He spoke to reporters after he visited with patients at a new center at Fort Bliss, Texas, designed to treat soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The new policy is aimed at reducing stigma that keeps many troops from getting the help they need.
Thousands of troops are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with war-related anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. But many hesitate to get psychiatric care because they fear that could cost them their security clearances, harm their careers and embarrass them before commanders and comrades.
A question on the government application for security clearances has long asked federal employees whether they have consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years. If so, they are asked to list the names, addresses and dates they saw the doctor or therapist, unless it was for marriage or grief counseling and not related to violent behavior.
The new questions allows them to answer "No" if the counseling was for any of the following reasons and was not court-ordered:
- Strictly marital, family or grief counseling not related to their own violent behavior;
- Strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
