Descriptive Study of the Utilization of Behavioral Health Resources in the Fort Hood Catchment Area

摘要

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the effect of beneficiary category, gender, venue of care and fiscal year quarter on a diagnosis of deployment related PTSD. The effects of mental illness problems are multigenerational, especially if not identified and treated early. It is important to seek help for PTSD because untreated PTSD can lead to more serious, chronic mental and physical illness (National Center for PTSD Factsheet, n.d.). Early detection and treatment after a traumatic event may help prevent PTSD and its related co-morbidities from developing (Voges & Romney, 2003). This study supports the suspicion that mental health issues are a real problem for the Fort Hood population and that Fort Hood and the local network may not be able to continue to support the behavioral health demand at status quo. PTSD diagnosis in purchased care (PC) had remained constant from FY05-FY07, while the diagnosis of PTSD in direct care (DC) had quadrupled between FY05 and FY07, and the timing of PTSD diagnosis coincided with deployment rotations. Females were likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues, and males were likely to be diagnosed with substance abuse issues.