Military psychiatry covers special aspects of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial p ...

and

mental disorders A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

within the military context.Temple, M. & Greenberg, N. (2002)
Military psychiatry
. ''British Medical Journal Career Focus, 324'', S161a.Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Psychiatry and Neuroscience. (2006, August 16). ''Department of Military Psychiatry''. Retrieved November 03, 2007, from The aim of military psychiatry is to keep as many serving personnel as possible fit for duty and to treat those disabled by psychiatric conditions. Military psychiatry encompasses counseling individuals and families on a variety of life issues, often from the standpoint of ''life strategy counseling'', as well as counseling for

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles Stress (biology), stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-maki ...

issues,

substance abuse prevention Substance abuse prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention, is a process that attempts to prevent the onset of substance use or limit the development of problems associated with using psychoactive substances. Prevention efforts may focus on ...

and

substance abuse treatment Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent ...

; and where called for,

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

treatment for biologically based mental illness, among other elements. A military psychiatrist is a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

—whether uniformed officer or civilian consultant—specializing in the treatment of

military personnel Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank ( officer, non-commissioned office ...

and military family members suffering from

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s that occur within the statistical norm for any population, as well as those disorders consequent to

warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

and also stresses associated with

military life A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

By country

Norway

From the 1960s Arne Sund, the chief psychiatrist of the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

medical service, "established Norwegian military psychiatry as leading within

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

" and became the "founder of the research field of

disaster psychiatry Disaster psychiatry is a field of psychiatry. It is closely linked to military psychiatry and largely evolved from that field, but has a focus that is broader than a purely military context, and that may include natural disasters, large accidents, ...

," that evolved from military psychiatry.

United States

Active duty members

TRICARE Tricare (styled TRICARE) is a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System. Tricare provides civilian health benefits for U.S Armed Forces military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents, ...

is a health program offered to uniformed service members,

national guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

or reserve members, survivors, former spouses,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

recipients, and their families through the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

Military Health System The Military Health System (MHS) is a form of nationalized health care operated within the United States Department of Defense that provides health care to active duty, Reserve component and retired U.S. Military personnel and their dependents. ...

. Upon enrollment, active duty members and their families gain access to emergency and non-emergency mental

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pr ...

. In the case of a

emergency, members are advised to go to the nearest hospital

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

. There is no requirement for

prior authorization Prior authorization is a utilization management process used by some health insurance companies in the United States to determine if they will cover a prescribed procedure, service, or medication. The process is intended to act as a safety and co ...

. Admissions must be reported to your regional contractor within 24 hours or the next business day. For non-emergency situations, active duty members must receive a referral and prior authorization for all mental health care.

Veterans

The

United States Department of Veteran Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

offers mental health care to

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

s through enrollment in VA health care. Benefits include emergency and non-emergency care. Emergency mental health care is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through VA medical centers and the Veterans Crisis Line. Non-emergency mental health care services provided include

inpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health car ...

and outpatient care, rehabilitation treatment and residential (live-in) programs, and supported work settings. Conditions treated by the VA: * Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) * Depression * Suicide prevention * Issues related to military sexual trauma (MST) * Substance use problems * Bipolar disease * Schizophrenia * Anxiety-related conditions

Epidemiology

Psychiatric disorders have been related to the greatest number of casualties and discharges in several wars.Ellard, J. (2000) "Principles of military psychiatry". ''Journal of the Australian Defence Health Services'', 1, 81–84. Such conditions typically have somatic manifestations. On-site, emergency psychiatric treatment reduces the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity within the military context.

Notable military psychiatrists

* W. H. R. Rivers (1864–1922) *

Ernst Rüdin Ernst Rüdin (19 April 1874 – 22 October 1952) was a Swiss-born German psychiatrist, geneticist, eugenicist and Nazi, rising to prominence under Emil Kraepelin and assuming the directorship at the German Institute for Psychiatric Resea ...

(1874–1952) * Arne Sund (1925–2012) *

Simon Wessely Sir Simon Charles Wessely (born 23 December 1956) is a British psychiatrist. He is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and head of its department of psychological medicine, vice dean for academi ...

(1956–present) * Neil Greenberg (1968–present) * General William C. Menninger *

Nidal Hasan Nidal (in Arabic نضال meaning warrior in Arabic) is a given name in Arabic. It may refer to: * Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar (born 1956), Syrian politician and government minister * Abou Nidal, Côte d'Ivoirian singer * Umm Nidal (1948–2013), Pales ...

perpetrator of

2009 Fort Hood shooting On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American m ...

References

Works cited

Other sources

* Jones, Franklin D., et al. (eds), ''Military Psychiatry: Preparing in Peace for War'' (1994; Series:

Textbook of Military Medicine The ''Textbook of Military Medicine'' (TMM) is a series of volumes on military medicine published since 1989 by the Borden Institute, of the Office of The Surgeon General, of the United States Department of the Army. It constitutes a comprehen ...

) – Explores various mental health issues that may occur in the military during peacetime: 331 pp. * Jones, Franklin D., et al. (eds), ''War Psychiatry'' (1995; Series: Textbook of Military Medicine) - Discusses the evolution of the concept of combat stress reaction, the delivery of mental health care on the various battlefields soldiers are likely to experience, and the psychological consequences of having endured the intensity and lethality of modern combat: 515 pp. * Shephard, Ben, ''A War of Nerves: Soldiers and Psychiatrists in the Twentieth Century'' (2000) {{Authority control