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Science Forum Index » Psychology Forum » => Mentally Ill and Psychotics with Security Clearances! <= Feel Safer Yet? -- Stay the Course!
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| _ Prof. Jonez _ |
 Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:44 pm |
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Pentagon changes rule for security clearances
By PAULINE JELINEK – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday urged troops to get
psychiatric counseling for wartime mental health problems, saying it's "not
going to count against them" later if they apply for national security
clearances for sensitive jobs.
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 visiting a new center at Fort Bliss, Texas, designed
to treat soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gates called PTSD one of the "unseen wounds" of war. He said there are two
issues in dealing with it, the first being developing care and treatment.
"The second, and in some ways perhaps equally challenging, is to remove the
stigma that is associated with PTSD and to encourage soldiers, sailors, Marines
and airmen who encounter these problems to seek help," he said.
Later, Gates told nearly 900 command sergeants major and instructors at Fort
Bliss that senior leaders must be aware of the stress on the force — "stress
that has been greatly increased in recent years" as fighting continues in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Acknowledging that mistakes have been made — and will likely be made again —
Gates said, "We all know not every soldier returning from Iraq and Afghanistan
is getting the treatment they need."
At the Pentagon, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Michael
Mullen, told a press conference that for too long, troops have believed that
seeking mental health assistance would hurt their careers.
"Nothing could be further from the truth, and it's time we got over that,"
Mullen said.
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 — what Gates
called "the infamous Question 21" — 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 question 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.
Gates said a letter will be attached to applications explaining the department's
position on therapy.
"Seeking professional care for these mental health issues should not be
perceived to jeopardize an individual's security clearance," says the letter
from James Clapper and David Chu, undersecretaries of defense for intelligence
and personnel respectively.
Rather, they said, "failure to seek care actually increases the likelihood that
psychological distress could escalate to a more serious mental condition, which
could preclude an individual from performing sensitive duties."
The newly written question also says getting counseling "in and of itself is not
a reason to revoke or deny a clearance."
The Pentagon says the perception of stigma for security applicants is far worse
than the reality.
The most recently released data show less than 1 percent of some 800,000 people
investigated for clearances in 2006 were rejected on the sole issue of their
mental health profiles.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.6 million troops who have served in Iraq and
Afghanistan are estimated to have mental health problems, the Defense Department
says.
Successive government and private studies have found roughly half of those who
need help are seeking it.
Revising the security clearance procedure is the latest in a string of efforts
aimed at changing military attitudes on mental health:
_ The Army last year held special sessions to teach 800,000 troops how to
recognize concussions and mental problems in themselves and their buddies.
_ The Army and Navy have put mental health professionals into primary care
centers — rather than separate locations — so troops can go for appointments
discreetly.
Advocates of better mental health care for troops said the new policy could be a
small but important step.
"This needs to be followed by a mental health campaign — not just for service
members but for their families as well," said Paul Riechoff, executive director
of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "But I really do think it's a
significant evolution."
A survey released Wednesday by the American Psychiatric Association found that
about three in five service members think seeking help for mental health
concerns would have at least some impact on their careers.
"The military has made strides in raising awareness of mental health, but it's
going to take a tremendous commitment to overcome attitudes that are ingrained
in the military culture," association president Dr. Carolyn B. Robinowitz said. |
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