According to new research released this week, new recruits entering the Army have the same rates of mental problems as their civilian peers; however, the demands of military service cause those conditions to persist longer.
According to the New York Times, “The findings from both papers suggest that early treatment of mental health symptoms could avert problems later on, [Dr. Robert J. Ursano, director of the Center for Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and lead author of the paper on suicide] said. The results also present the military with a familiar conundrum: How do you identify vulnerable people without driving them underground?”