Military Mental Health Services Act
MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ACT -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 15, 2005)
SPEECH OF
HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO
OF CONNECTICUT
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2005
* Ms. DELAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation which will improve the lives of thousands of our troops and their families. As our troops serve us so well in Iraq, the war on terrorism and on countless other missions around the world, we honor their service. At the same time, however, we should do more to help our troops and their families handle the emotional toll that service can take.
* The Military Mental Health Services Improvement Act, which I am introducing with 18 of my colleagues, will improve the ability of servicemembers and their families to access mental health care and overcome the stigma that is too often associated with mental health services. I am especially pleased that the National Military Families Association has lent its support to this important legislation.
* Since the beginning of the Iraq War, more than 900 servicemembers have been evacuated from Iraq due to mental health concerns, and a new study by the New England Journal of Medicine confirms that more than one-quarter of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans seeking care at Veterans hospitals are doing so for mental health treatment. While we have made good progress since the Vietnam era in diagnosing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other forms of combat stress, much more remains to be done.
* Specifically, my bill will: Ensure that troops deploying to combat theaters get the mental health screening they need before and after deployment. The bill requires that military mental health screenings be done in person. The 1997 Defense Authorization Act required pre- and post-deployment screenings, but the Defense Department elected to use paper self-evaluation forms which are widely viewed as insufficient to identify possible combat-stress cases.
* Create a new program designed to alert dependents of servicemembers about the options for and availability of mental health treatment services. The bill requires the DOD to operate a web site and toll-free number that servicemembers and families can use to get information about the availability of mental health services. Many military families complain of being unable to determine where to go for mental health services. This problem is particularly acute for Guardsmen and Reservists, whose families may not live close to a military installation and thus do not have easy access to a military health care facility.
* Reduce the stigma associated with mental health treatment. According to a 2004 New England Journal of Medicine study of troops returning from Iraq, fear of stigmatization was ``disproportionately greatest among those most in need of help from mental health services.''
* Improve coordination between DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs in treating mental health cases. As the youngest veterans, OIF/OEF veterans will be long-term users of VA health services, and so proper diagnosis and treatment are important to reduce their long-term mental health services needs.
* Allow recently-deactivated Guard and Reserve members and their families to obtain mental health services through TRICARE for up to 24 months after the servicemember returns. This is a priority for the National Military Families Association, and 24 months was selected because that is the time-frame in which PTSD usually presents itself.
* Allow colleges, universities and community hospitals to play a constructive role in helping to diagnose and treat combat stress in our servicemembers by permitting the Defense Department to partner with these organizations to carry out the programs prescribed in the bill.
* Mr. Speaker, we owe a debt of gratitude to our troops and their families. Part of this debt can be paid by giving them the resources they need to get through deployment, including combat and long stretches away from loved ones. Supporting this legislation will be a good step in that direction.
* I have long been interested in the issue of mental health among our men and women in uniform and their families, but it was brought home for me last year, during the deployment to Iraq of the 439th Quartermaster Company, an Army Reserve unit headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut. Over the course of that deployment, I saw a group of families overwhelmed by the stress and uncertainty caused by the deployment of their loved ones. These families did not know where to turn for help. The situation, unfortunately, did not improve when the soldiers returned from their 19 months on active duty, 14 of which were spent in the Middle East. I would like to read into the RECORD the speech given Monday by the leader of the 439th family support organization, Kelly Beckwith. Kelly's words speak volumes about the emotional toll of deployment on families. I hope my colleagues will take the time to read them:
SPEECH BY KELLY BECKWITH AT THE AMERICAN LEGION POST 89, EAST HAVEN, CONN. ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE DELAURO MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2005
``Hello. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Kelly Beckwith. I am the wife of an OEF/OIF Veteran and mother to four young children. My husband, Sgt. Chris Beckwith, served on active duty with the 439th Quartermaster Company from New Haven for over 19 months. I served ``unofficially'' as the 439th Family Readiness Coordinator during the last few months of their deployment.
``Deployment is an extremely difficult time for our soldiers and their families. While there is a sense of pride in serving your country, the stress of separation can be devastating, even more so when there is no structuralized, formal support system. Reserve support relies heavily upon volunteers, most of which are struggling with the deployment of a loved one themselves. Soldiers are not the only ones making sacrifices.......
``If you will allow me to paint you a picture ..... Close your eyes .....
``Imagine four young, bright-eyed children. Christopher is eight years old and in the third grade. He likes to play with trucks and cars, and loves to build with his legos. Julia is five and just started kindergarten in the fall. She loves to draw and tell stories. Shaun is three years old and very shy and quiet. He just started learning to use the potty. He is loving and holds tightly onto his mom and admires his dad. He wants to be a fireman when he grows up. Olivia just turned two and is eager to learn all that she can and cause mischief of one kind or another.
``Now picture soldiers, dressed in BDUs, filing onto the busses. Picture those same bright-eyed children standing at the gate, with tears in their eyes, hoping to have one last chance to wave goodbye to their Daddy.
``Imagine being the mother of those children, seeing the fear and confusion in their eyes as they know their father has to go away, but they do not understand why or know for how long.
``Imagine losing that one person you had to hold you, to comfort you, to talk to in the middle of the night. Imagine the overwhelming stress as the burden of the household quickly falls on those left behind. Imagine being that wife and realizing that you will now be raising four children on your own. Imagine watching helplessly as the terror of what your loved one is enduring unfolds right before your eyes on the television ..... the sudden onset of anxiety attacks as you wait endlessly for the phone to ring, hoping to hear from him, and dreading when the phone does ring, fearing the worst. Imagine the wife ..... holding tightly onto herself to ease her fears as she cries herself to sleep.
``Those bright-eyed children have all had to grow up entirely too fast.
``The oldest boy, Christopher, assumes the role as father figure to his younger siblings. He no longer wants to go to a friend's house to play. Instead, he prefers to stay home, in case his mother ``needs'' him. Five year old, Julia, is now six and in the first grade. She pours herself into schoolwork and immerses herself into books. She continues to draw and write. She now keeps a journal in which she writes, ``Why can't my Daddy come home?''
``Quiet and shy Shaun, who was once so loveable, is now so full of anger and hate. Because he does not know what words to use to express his feelings, he starts lashing out. He bites, hits, kicks, screams, and breaks anything that catches his eye--three windows, four figurines, and a bed within one week's time. Shaun blames his mother for his father's extended absence and shouts to her ``I hate you!'' at least three times a day. Then cries, ``Mommy, please let my Daddy come home.''
``Little Olivia now only knows her father through photographs. When other fathers pick up their children at preschool, Olivia asks, `` When is my Daddy coming to get me?''
``Now, if you will, flash forward to over a year and a half later.
* Christopher is now ten years old and is in the fifth grade.
* Julia is seven and in second grade.
* Shaun, who had just started learning to use potty at the beginning of deployment, is now five and in kindergarten.
* Little Olivia is four years old and is one of the ``big kids'' at her preschool.
* Mom has finally started to sleep at night.
``After all this time, Daddy finally comes home, only to hear his youngest child ask, `Are you my Daddy?'
``For many families, reintegration is harder than the actual deployment itself. Sadly, many families fall apart during the deployment, and far too many soldiers return home divorced. For those families that have endured the trials and tribulations of separation, the arduous journey has just begun.
``Soldiers have witnessed and endured unspeakable cruelties. Their everyday life had become a series of safety checks and ``trust no ones.'' Yet within a week of leaving the combat zone, the soldiers are back with their families with nothing more than a slap on the back and a `thank you, buddy.'
``At first, everything is wonderful--the ``honeymoon stage.'' You're just so grateful to have him back home, to have your family together again. Then comes the transition. People change over time, especially more so during a traumatic experience such as deployment. Soldiers come home to someone they feel is completely different from who they left behind. Often times, families do not recognize the person coming home to them. We have to learn how to live with another person again. In truth, it's almost as if you're learning to live with a stranger, only his face is so familiar. You have to learn to share the bed again. Even the simplest things, such as emptying the trash or remembering to put the toilet seat down can cause such a large, deep rift. The smallest misunderstandings can, and do, spiral into large disagreements and screaming matches.
``Unfortunately there are several factors hindering soldiers and families from seeking the help they so desperately need. Some do not know what options are available to them, others do not know where to go or whom to call. Some are too stubborn to realize they need help, thinking if they got through the deployment, they can get through anything.
``For those soldiers who do come forward to seek help, there is a good chance it will be held against them in their future military career. Even something as simple as going to marital counseling will be taken into consideration for security clearance. Sometimes more drastic measures, such as pushing the soldier out of military service, are taken.
``This is no way to thank our soldiers for defending and protecting our freedoms. It is time we do right by our soldiers and their families. There is no choice but to offer them the support they need not only to serve this country, but to reintegrate into their families as well.
``This is a matter of the utmost urgency, and we'd all be fools if we failed to do something about it. If we fail just one, then we have failed them all.
``It's time to do right by our soldiers ..... And that time is now.''
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov