NPR is running a piece on the controversy and impact personality disorders have on a military service and a member's entitlements.
Thousands of military personnel have been dismissed for "personality disorders" since the war in Iraq began.
The military says the soldiers had pre-existing mental conditions that it is not responsible for treating. But soldiers, their families and veterans' groups counter that the mental condition is post-traumatic stress disorder caused by their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Daniel Zwerdling says if a soldier's medical unit diagnoses him with PTSD, the treatment could last months and make the military liable for the soldier's disability benefits. But if the soldier is diagnosed with a personality disorder — a condition that predates his military service — then the treatment would only last a couple weeks and the military would not be liable for the disability benefits.
Zwerdling says he found no evidence of a military psychiatrist diagnosing a soldier with a personality disorder in order to avoid the extended treatment and costs. However, he did hear that the personality disorder diagnosis has been used to discharge problem soldiers quickly.
Comment: Data shows that ad seps have been pretty much stable over a period of many years. It is important to understand that ad sep is a chronic problem and that there aren't any "spikes".
Many times service members are referred for a mental health evaluation for assessment of dysfunctional behavior that ended up on the command's radar screen. The role of the military psychiatrist is to determine if this is a chronic pervasive pattern of dysfunction or are the behaviors caused by another condition like PTSD. (Or some combination of both PTSD and personality disorder!). The physician then needs to balance the patient's needs against the commands and decide the best treatment and disposition (medical board, ad sep, etc.)
Reference: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15323415
