Mental Health Blogs

Maryland Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) today sent a letter to the Department of Defense seeking information how many anti-depressants are being prescribed to troops in-theatre (ie, not at home) and effectively questioned whether the record-high rate of suicide in the military might not be tied to anti-depressant use. (Letter here.)

“On November 3, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that during the most recent month of October, 16 active‐duty American Soldiers killed themselves, bringing the total number of active‐duty suicides thus far in 2009 to 134. At this rate, it is expected that the total number of suicides in 2009 will eclipse last year’s total of 140 – the highest yearly number of suicides in Army history, and the first time that the rate of active‐duty suicides exceeded that of the U.S. population….”

“Unfortunately, Congress cannot as easily provide a remedy for the stress or mental trauma created by combat experience. To begin to do so, Congress must first examine how the Department of Defense (DoD) is addressing the dilemma of mental trauma suffered by members of our Armed Forces. To do so in a comprehensive manner, it must also examine the extent to which DoD is prescribing anti‐depressants to its service members, especially those deployed in‐theatre, and the methods it is employing to ensure that sufficient observation periods are conducted by properly trained mental
health providers. In short, my concern is how DoD is managing the sheer volume and manner by which antidepressant drugs are being administered to our service men and women overseas.”

It’ll be interesting to see what answers he gets.

Via Pharmalot.

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Related posts:

1. Army Suicides In 2009 to Top 2008
2. Study: US Anti-Depressant Use Doubles From 1996 to 2005
3. Doctors On CNN, Fox News Criticize Long-Term Anti-Depressant Use
4. The Anti-Depressant Trap Leads To Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis, Lithium Toxicity
5. LA Times Actually Writes About Anti-Depressant Withdrawal Problems