Military Husbands

The Associated Press ran a recent piece stating that there has been a significant increase in the number of military kids receiving mental health care.

Children of U.S. military troops sought outpatient mental health care 2 million times last year, double the number at the start of the Iraq war, and there was also an alarming spike in the number of military kids actually hospitalized for mental health reasons.

I'm not exactly surprised by this. As the article states, the stresses of military life are many: frequent moves (on average every three years); parents returning from combat zones with post-traumatic stress disorder; or, worst of all, parents not returning at all.

On the whole, I'd say this is not a bad thing in and of itself. Receiving mental health care doesn't have the stigma it once did. I'd guess there were a lot fewer kids and spouses seeking psychiatric care during Vietnam even though such care would have been beneficial in helping them deal with the psychological stresses they experienced. And, of course, we've made great advances in psychiatry since Vietnam.

The underlying problem is the fact that these kids need the care in the first place. It's yet another stark example of the huge tolls the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking on US military service members and their families.