Destruction of Lives with the Stroke of a Pen

Protect Our Defenders is a non-profit human rights organization that honors, supports and gives voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members.  Nancy Parrish Paula Coughlin Men and women serving in our military who are raped or sexually assaulted face overwhelming obstacles in order to receive adequate health care. Instead of assuring victims that their distress about their attacks is a normal response, the Department of Defense (DoD) has a record of mistreating victims by labeling them with errant diagnoses of personality or adjustment disorders. Based on these diagnoses, victims are not only further stigmatized, but often discharged without benefits or health care. Just last week, the Military Times reported that the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps do not properly track mental health discharges. According a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the DoD does not know how many service members have been discharged for mental health conditions – such as personality and adjustment disorders – that do not merit disability pay. Even though the DoD requires that diagnoses be specified for discharges, these services use a single “condition, not disability” separation code for a wide range of conditions, preventing accurate tracking. Protect Our Defenders is therefore calling on Congress to investigate how the military tracks these discharges. How widespread are misdiagnoses? A 2012 report from the Vete...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Women Veterans Source Type: blogs