Military psychiatry covers special aspects of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

and

mental disorders A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

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 is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

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 o ...

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, and amphetamines. The general int ...

; and where called for,

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

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

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

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

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

and military family members suffering from

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

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

warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

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. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

By country

Norway

From the 1960s

Arne Sund Arne Sund (born 14 August 1925, died 4 December 2011Obituary
''Aftenposte ...

, the chief psychiatrist of the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...

medical service, "established Norwegian military psychiatry as leading within

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

" and became the "founder of the research field of

disaster psychiatry Disaster psychiatry is a field of psychiatry which focuses on responding to natural disasters, climate change, school shootings, large accidents, public health emergencies, and their associated community-wide disruptions and mental health implicatio ...

," 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 The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the fede ...

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. ...

or reserve members, survivors, former spouses,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipients, and their families through the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

Military Health System The Military Health System (MHS) is the internal health care system 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. T ...

. 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 or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

. 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 (medicine), ...

. There is no requirement for

prior authorization Prior authorization, or preauthorization, 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. Overview Prior authorisa ...

. 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 offers mental health care to

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

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 heal ...

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 (1874–1952) *

Arne Sund Arne Sund (born 14 August 1925, died 4 December 2011Obituary
''Aftenposte ...

(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 William Claire Menninger (October 15, 1899 – September 6, 1966) was a co-founder with his brother Karl and his father of The Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, an internationally known center for treatment of behavioral disorders. Life ...

Nidal Hasan Nidal Malik Hasan (born September 8, 1970) is an American former United States Army major, physician, and mass murderer convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in the Fort Hood mass shooting on November 5, 2009. Hasan, an Army Me ...

perpetrator of

2009 Fort Hood shooting On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), near Killeen, Texas, United States. Nidal Hasan, a Major (United States), U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 other ...

* Yagunov George (1997–present)

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 comprehens ...

) – 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