What's Changed? A Comparison of Army Suicide Surveillance Data to Cases from 1975 to 1982.

US Army suicide rates increased significantly in the last decade and have remained high. To inform future research hypotheses, Army suicide surveillance data (2012-2014) were compared to similar Army data for suicides from 1975 to 1982. Preliminary data suggest that suicide rates increased across most demographic groups, but may have decreased among divorced soldiers. Mental health utilization increased over time. Legal problems and physical health problems were identified in a higher percentage of cases in the recent data relative to the 1975-1982 era. Potential implications for suicide prevention are discussed.

Psychological intervention in the spanish military deployed on international operations / Intervención psicológica en militares españoles desplegados en operaciones internacionales

BACKGROUND: Spain was one of the first countries to recognize the importance of psychological aspects in the planning and development of international military operations, and also to include military psychologists in contingents deployed abroad. METHOD: This paper describes the psychological intervention model used by Spanish military psychologists involved in military operations abroad. RESULTS: This model is comprised of a systematic set of interventions and actions carried out in the different phases of any military operation (concentration, deployment and post-mission). It also contemplates the intervention not only in personnel who integrate the military contingents, but also with their families and, at certain times of the mission, with the local population of the area in which the operation is carried out. CONCLUSIONS: The model presented has a preventive orientation, based on the selection and psychological preparation of contingents before deployment, and supplemented by support in the area of operations for personnel who need it, and the psychological care of their families in Spain. Whereas this model has been effective so far, in this work, we present a series of measures aimed at improving the psychological well-being of our troops deployed outside our country

ANTECEDENTES: España ha sido pionera en reconocer la importancia de los aspectos psicológicos en la planificación y desarrollo de las operaciones militares internacionales, y en incluir a psicólogos en los contingentes desplegados en ellas. MÉTODO: este trabajo describe el modelo de intervención psicológica utilizado por los psicólogos militares españoles que participan en misiones y operaciones en el exterior. RESULTADO: dicho modelo está conformado por un conjunto sistematizado de intervenciones y actuaciones que se llevan a cabo en las distintas fases que componen toda operación militar (concentración, despliegue y postmisión). Igualmente contempla la intervención tanto en el personal que integra los contingentes militares, como en sus familias y, en determinados momentos de la misión, en la población local de la zona en que se desarrolla. CONCLUSIONES: el modelo presentado posee una orientación claramente preventiva, basada en la selección y preparación psicológica del contingente antes del despliegue, y complementada con la asistencia en zona de operaciones al personal que lo requiera y la atención a sus familias en territorio nacional. Pese a la eficacia de dicho modelo, se analizan sus limitaciones y se exponen algunas medidas para mejorar el bienestar psicológico de nuestras tropas desplegadas en el exterior

Suicide prevention in military organizations.

Suicide is an important public health problem in the demographic group that forms the bulk of military populations, namely young and middle-aged men. Suicide in the military also has special significance: certain aspects of military service can lead to serious mental disorders that increase the risk of suicidal behaviour. Moreover, military organizations have control over a broad range of factors (notably the direct delivery of mental health care) that could mitigate suicide risk. This article will review the literature on suicide risk in military organizations to answer the important question: Are military personnel at increased risk for suicide? Next, Mann et al.'s (2005) model for specific suicide preventive interventions in civilian settings will be reviewed and then expanded, with an emphasis on identifying special opportunities for suicide prevention in military organizations, including: 1) organizational interventions to mitigate work stress; 2) selection, resilience training, and risk factor reduction; 3) interventions to overcome barriers to care; and 4) systematic quality improvement efforts in mental health care. Finally, the evidence behind comprehensive suicide prevention programmes will be reviewed, with a special focus on the US Air Force's benchmark programme.

Health perspectives regarding adolescents in military service.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Our purpose is to illuminate health perspectives of adolescents in military service, who comprise the main bulk of military personnel. RECENT FINDINGS: Two views are emphasized: the soldier as a developing adolescent and the healthcare of adolescent soldiers. The capacity for abstract thinking and future planning, characteristic of late adolescence, opposes the military challenges of obedience, disengagement from the family, and potential threats for physical injury and mental stress, in addition to the requirement for responsibility beyond the individual's personal needs. On the other hand, at discharge from military service, the mature young adult faces questions of a 17-year-old adolescent. Health perspectives regarding adolescents in military service include physical and mental health screening before draft; recruiting adolescents with chronic illnesses; specific healthcare issues during service, including routine medical care, psychosocial problems of young people in service and approach to suicide and to risk behaviors; health aspects of adolescent women in military frameworks; and the dual commitment of physicians as military officers. SUMMARY: Professionals who care for the well-being of young people in their late teens and early 20s in military service need to consider the service period as an additional developmental stage within late adolescence that requires attention as part of the comprehensive healthcare.

A retrospective evaluation of TeleMental Healthcare services for remote military populations.

The objective of this study was to compare specific treatment and outcome variables between mental health care via videoconferencing to care provided in person. The study was a retrospective record review of service members and their adult civilian family members seen at two remotely located military bases. One group was seen via video conferencing (telemental health care [TMHC]) while a second group was seen face-to-face care (FTFC) and served as a control group. Chi-square tests were used to test for significance associations between therapy format and secondary variables. The Global Assessment of Functioning was unexpectedly and significantly more improved for the TMHC group than the FTFC care group. Mean change in Global Assessment of Functioning for FTFC (8.4) was significantly less than mean change for TMHC (15.3). There were no significant differences between the groups in the number of laboratories or studies ordered, self-help recommendations made, selected mental status elements, or number of patients prescribed two or more psychotropic medications. The rate of full compliance with the medication plan and follow-up appointments was significantly better for TMHC. Providers using TMHC told more patients to return for follow-up appointments in 30 days or less. Improved compliance, the unique interpersonal processes of care via TMH, and slightly shorter times to next follow-up appointment were the chief contributors. Alterations in the process of communication may have implications in the business, political, and military sectors.

[Reduced but better health care for armed forces]. / Försvarsmaktens sjukvård bantas, men blir bättre.

The Swedish Armed Forces are presently undergoing the most extensive reorganization and downscaling in their history. In a new set of objectives for the Swedish Armed Forces Medical Service laid down by the Surgeon General, the aim is to provide combat casualty care with a quality on par with that of the civilian, peace-time health care system. This will be achieved by establishing advanced trauma care by specialist physicians and nurses closer to the point of injury, using armoured medical evacuation vehicles, and by introducing new treatment modalities such as intraosseous infusion using hyperoncotic solutions.

[The tasks in maintaining and strengthening the mental health of servicemen]. / Zadachi po sokhraneniiu i ukrepleniiu psikhicheskogo zdorov'ia voennosluzhashchikh.

The state of medical psychiatric service and the outlook for its improvement in Armed Forces of Russian Federation have been analyzed. In peace time it is reasonable to organize medical psychological and psychiatric care to military men with border disorders, to psychosomatic patients and also to really healthy men, who are in critical situation, to elaborate a new organized structure of staff, providing psychoprophylactic care. During war conflicts it is important to foresee in forward zone the corrective activities and treatment of patients with psychological stress reactions and addict disorders, to provide the wounded with psychiatric correction and care.

Neuropsiquiatria en el medio policial / Nueropsychiatry in the police personnel

Se realiza revisión crítica del estado actual de las evaluaciones a nivel neuropsiquiátrico en el Servicio de Sanidad de la Policía Nacional del Perú y se plantean alternativas de solución al afronte interdisciplinario.

Psychiatry in the Army: a brief historical perspective and current developments.

A brief historical review of military psychiatry in the United States Army is presented, focusing on the development of psychiatric treatment of soldiers with acute stress reactions. The authors outline the current roles of the military psychiatrist during peacetime and war, including direct care provider, consultant, and administrator, and discuss the contributions of military psychiatry to the civilian sector in the areas of crisis intervention, community psychiatry, family psychiatry, and substance abuse prevention and treatment.