Disordered Discharge

I really felt a need to comment on this story. Last night, ABC News carried an investigative piece on how the military is denying benefits to soldiers upon discharge because of pre-existing "Personality Disorders".

ABC News:

“Since 2001, more than 22,000 servicemen and women from all branches of the military have been separated under the personality disorder discharge.” ABC News explains, “This diagnosis means the personality disorder existed before military service, and therefore medical care and disability payments are not the military’s responsibility.”

This is so blatantly ridiculous on the surface that it nearly bears no further discussion.

But please, allow me.

As a former practicing psychotherapist I can tell you something about Personality Disorders. These are so-called "Axis II" disorders, meaning they are descriptors of an individual's long-term functioning, and not readily amendable to treatment. In other words, it's largely just who you are, in the past, now and in the future. But it's also important to note that no-one is without, at a minimum, symptoms of a personality disorder. The criteria for each disorder are quite subjective, easily misinterpreted, highly disputed and often misused. Medical insurance plans will not reimburse for treatment of a personality disorder due to the problems in it's diagnosis and treatment. The diagnosis is often used more as a short-hand descriptor of an individuals approach to the world, rather than any recognized "illness" in our third party payor treatment world. Mind you, there are practictioners who specialize in treating certain personality disorders, but it's treatment reserved for the rich who can afford indefinite treatment (Paris Hilton anyone?).

This should make it readily apparent that the military can, at it's discretion, declare virtually any soldier as suffering from a personality disorder. Want to cut costs? Send a memo to the military psychiatrists laying out loose protocols for diagnosis of these disorders and voila', costs get cut.

I also want to note this. By definition, people will "high-grade" themselves based on profession. So in stereotypical terms, just who in the world do you think would join the military with the desire to see the world and kill people? Yes, I realize that's a broad brush statement, but statistically it happens to be true. Therefore, a very young person (borderline personality disorder) joins the military to fight (anti-social personality disorder) because of fear the terrorists will attack us (paranoid personality disorder), because he thinks it's his country "right or wrong" (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) and because he/she may not have any other job options (dependent personality disorder) and because he/she is comfortable knowing how to deal with oppressive controlling bosses (passive/aggressive personality disorder). I could go on in this same vein throughout the entire spectrum of disorders.

It's simply ridiculous for our military to treat soldiers, who have fulfilled their end of the bargain, benefits based on such nonsense and junk science. It's yet another sign of our times and the rotting out of the inside of our government by Republicans.