Military's mental health system needs help

Washington -- A year-long study by a federal task force highlights an urgent need for improvement in the U.S. military's mental health system.

Soldiers and their families receive inadequate care from the system, overloaded by soldiers returning from the war in Iraq, said the report released in Washington Thursday.

The task force team was created by Congress and comprised of medical and mental health officials, including Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur. The team surveyed soldiers at 38 military installations.

The military's mental health system is "woefully inadequate" in dealing with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and needs to hire more staff immediately, the report said. Pentagon health officials planned to respond to the study Friday, USA Today said.

More than 1 million soldiers have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001, many of them more than once. Of nearly 230,000 new veterans who have sought help from the Veterans Affairs Department, more than a third have mental disorders, the task force said.

The study also found a widespread lack of mental health resources for children in military families.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.