Pentagon changes rule for security clearances
WASHINGTON (AP) - May 1, 2008 Gates announced a new policy under which troops and civilian
defense employees will no longer have to reveal previous mental
health treatment unless it was court-ordered or involved violence.
He spoke to reporters after he visited with patients at a new
center at Fort Bliss, Texas, designed to treat soldiers returning
from war with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gates pointedly called PTSD one of the "unseen wounds" of war.
He said there are two issues in dealing with it, the first being
developing care and treatment.
"The second, and in some ways perhaps equally challenging, is
to remove the stigma that is associated with PTSD and to encourage
soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who encounter these problems
to seek help," he said.
Thousands of troops are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan
with war-related anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. But
many hesitate to get psychiatric care because they fear that could
cost them their security clearances, harm their careers and
embarrass them before commanders and comrades.
A question on the government application for security clearances
- what Gates called "the infamous Question 21" - has long asked
federal employees whether they have consulted a mental health
professional in the past seven years. If so, they are asked to list
the names, addresses and dates they saw the doctor or therapist,
unless it was for marriage or grief counseling and not related to
violent behavior.
The new question allows them to answer "No" if the counseling
was for any of the following reasons and was not court-ordered:
- Strictly marital, family or grief counseling not related to
their own violent behavior;
- Strictly related to adjustments from service in a military
combat environment.
Gates said a letter will be attached to applications explaining
the department's position on therapy.
"Seeking professional care for these mental health issues
should not be perceived to jeopardize an individual's security
clearance," says the letter from James Clapper and David Chu,
undersecretaries of defense for intelligence and personnel
respectively.
Rather, they said, "failure to seek care actually increases the
likelihood that psychological distress could escalate to a more
serious mental condition, which could preclude an individual from
performing sensitive duties."
The newly written question also says getting counseling "in and
of itself is not a reason to revoke or deny a clearance."
The Pentagon says the perception of stigma for security
applicants is far worse than the reality.
The most recently released data show less than 1 percent of some
800,000 people investigated for clearances in 2006 were rejected on
the sole issue of their mental health profiles.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.6 million troops who have
served in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to have mental health
problems, the Defense Department says.
Successive government and private studies have found roughly
half of those who need help are seeking it.
Revising the security clearance procedure is the latest in a
string of efforts aimed at changing military attitudes on mental
health:
- The Army last year held special sessions to teach 800,000
troops how to recognize concussions and mental problems in
themselves and their buddies.
- The Army and Navy have put mental health professionals into
primary care centers - rather than separate locations - so troops
can go for appointments discreetly.
Advocates of better mental health care for troops said the new
policy could be a small but important step.
"This needs to be followed by a mental health campaign - not
just for service members but for their families as well," said
Paul Riechoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
of America. "But I really do think it's a significant evolution."
A survey released Wednesday by the American Psychiatric
Association found that about three in five service members think
seeking help for mental health concerns would have at least some
impact on their careers.
"The military has made strides in raising awareness of mental
health, but it's going to take a tremendous commitment to overcome
attitudes that are ingrained in the military culture," association
president Dr. Carolyn B. Robinowitz said.
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Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report
from Fort Bliss, Texas.