Fact Sheet

Over the past four years, the U.S. military has deployed more than one million Service members. Many are deployed for second and third tours, resulting in an enormous amount of stress and unique challenges for Service members and their families. The following links are designed to help news media locate facts attributable for articles or stories.

For more than fifty years, our country has celebrated May as Mental Health Month to raise awareness about mental illnesses and the importance of mental wellness for all.

Thirty-one percent of American troops returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan who sought treatment at a VA facility have been diagnosed with some sort of mental or "psychosocial" disorder, according to a March 2007 report from the Archives of Internal Medicine.

More advanced equipment and medical care have meant Service members are surviving severe injuries to the brain and extremities, likely to have killed them in earlier wars. According to CinCHouse, that’s encouraging news, but military wives caring for husbands dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, amputations, burns and brain injuries can feel alone in a bureaucratic medical system stretched thin by war. CinCHouse’s Operation Homefront provides emergency support and morale to our military troops, the families they leave behind during deployment, and the wounded warriors returning home.

Following a traumatic event, people typically describe feeling things like relief to be alive, followed by stress, fear, and anger, according to the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). People often find they are unable to stop thinking about the traumatic event. Having stress reactions is what happens to most people and has nothing to do with personal weakness.

Other Helpful Web Sites:

Support for members of our Armed Forces at home and abroad from America Supports You

Army Health Department 2006 report on behavioral health issues in the Iraq War

Advice for spouses and families for building resilience through pre-and post-deployment transitions battlemind.org

Demographic information (age, marriage, education) about our troops and their families from the Department of Defense and Air Force demographics

Department of Defense Medical Tracking and Health Surveillance Report describes how combat stress is tracked and reported.

The DeployMed ResearchLINK displays information from federally funded research programs to safeguard the health of service members before, during and after deployment.

Information and resources for both returning troops and their loved ones at Hearts Towards Home. 

Military families coping with the dangers and sacrifices of deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq’ National Council on Family Relations, which offers advice on Building Strong Communities for Military Families

Military.com offers advice on how to cope with the many stages of emotion and family members’ feelings about deployment.

The importance of discussing deployment with children, at the Military Child Education Coalition.

Military OneSource is provided by the Department of Defense at no cost to active duty, Guard and Reserve (regardless of activation status) and their families, and available 24/7 with deployment resources and access to immediate help.

Mental Health Care Needs among Recent War Veterans New England Journal of Medicine March 2005 & the July 2004 Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to Care by Charles W. Hoge.

Charles Hoge’s follow-up study in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Mental Health Problems, Use of Mental Health Services, and Attrition From Military Service After Returning From Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan’.

The National Military Family Association reports military family members often speak of the need for information that would help with the reintegration of the Service member with the family after deployment.

Readjustment counseling and outreach services information is provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at www.va.gov/rcs or 866-496-8838.

Access Local and National Resources for Service members and families through TriWest’s online interactive map.

U.S. Medicine Institute, Federal Health Update Newsletter promoting analysis, interaction and dialogue on critical issues in healthcare.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance is committed to doing "Whatever It Takes" for our nation’s Service members and their families by providing them with evidence-based behavioral health outreach and education.