ABC News is running a story about deploying "mentally unstable soldiers to Iraq":

The military is increasingly medicating its warriors, and in some cases, returning them to the fight.

(The Army's chief psychiatrist, Dr. Elspeth Ritchie), defended the concept. "You have to remember, PTSD is a treatable disorder, and you can have symptoms and still do your job quite well." '

Twelve percent of soldiers in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan reported taking antidepressants, anxiety medications or sleep medications in the Army's most recent mental health survey.

The use of psychiatric drugs on the battlefield has not been scientifically studied, and some say the practice carries risks.

"The black box on the label talks about side effects like suicide, poor judgment," retired Army psychologist Bart Billings warned. "It's really not a good idea to put people in a battle situation where the side effects of the medications they're taking could be suicide -- when they're carrying weapons."

As a psychiatrist in Kuwait during the first Gulf War, (Dr. Paul Ragan, a former Navy psychiatrist ) saw a vastly different military opinion of psychiatric medications. "Clearly, in 1990, if someone was on antidepressant medication, we sent them back to the United States."

This issue is larger than the military and applies to the entire profession of arms: Can warriors simultaneously serve and take psychotropic medication?

Career warriors such as police officers, FBI agents, Soldiers, Marines and others want to stay in the fight. There are two main reasons warriors avoid seeking mental health treatment. The first is stigma: warriors are tough, afraid to appear weak and erroneously equate participation in mental health treatment as weakness instead of strength. The second is they are afraid of the consequences of participating in treatment.

Policies directing medical disqualification for warriors taking psychotropic medication are well intentioned but can result in adverse career consequences and increased stigma. If a warrior can't fight, he can't get promoted and may lose his job. Other warriors will observe the career consequences and avoid seeking help themselves.

Should fitness for duty be a private decision between the warfighting organization, doctor and patient or should there be a blanket policy with detailed restrictions? Should the standard be the same across the profession of arms? Is it okay for police officers or other law enforcement professionals to take psychotropic medications while on duty but not okay for Marines and Soliders?