Airmen take the enlistment oath at the end of basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas on Dec. 19, 2024. (Kate Anderson/U.S. Air Force)
Diagnoses for mental disorders among U.S. service members increased nearly 40% in a five-year period that partly overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report that military researchers say demonstrates a growing need for health services.
From the beginning of 2019 through the end of 2023, more than 541,000 active service members were diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder and about half that number were diagnosed with at least two, the report said.
More than half of the diagnoses, nearly 283,000 cases, were for adjustment disorder, according to the latest edition of Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, a peer-reviewed journal of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division.
The disorder is time-limited and characterized by impaired function due to stress. It can be serious and is a risk for suicide, according to the Mayo Clinic website, but can also be mild, and in most cases, is manageable within a few months.
A 2022 study published in the journal Military Medicine found that 57% of service members with attachment disorder received the diagnosis within their first three years of service.
Meanwhile, anxiety diagnoses rose 77% from the beginning of the five-year period to 48,940 last year. Depression cases also showed a substantial increase, with nearly 40,000 last year.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, while far below figures at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly doubled during the time period to 22,386 cases. The diagnoses included rising numbers of women.
“Congruent with prior reports, service members in health care occupations continued to represent high rates of PTSD, potentially reflecting the psychological stresses inherent to many health care roles in both peace and wartime operations,” the researchers said.
The report looked at all active-duty members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force through records in the Defense Medical Surveillance System.
It excluded those who either didn’t seek care or went to a private practitioner or counselor, so the true numbers could be higher, the researchers said.
“Efforts to assist and treat service members should continue to promote help-seeking behavior to improve their psychological and emotional well-being and reduce the burden of mental health disorders, especially as rates have been increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.
In 2023, mental health disorders accounted for 54.8% of hospital bed days among active-duty service members, researchers found.
The Army had the highest rate of mental health disorders. The Navy had the highest rate of depressive disorders, bipolar disorder and personality disorders, while the Coast Guard had the highest rates of acute stress disorders, the report said.
Overall rates of anxiety, PTSD and acute stress were higher among service members who had deployed to a U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes the Middle East.
Mental health has been a lingering issue for the Pentagon. In February 2024, the Government Accountability Office found a shortage of mental health workers and long wait times for care in the military health care system.
In September, the Defense Department established a policy to promote health-seeking behaviors and emphasized the need for non-stigmatizing access to health services.
That followed the 2023 passage of the Brandon Act, which allows service members to seek confidential help at any time for any reason. It was named after Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Caserta, who died by suicide in 2018.
The Army has also developed a training program to equip medics without behavioral health experience to address some mental health issues in remote areas.
