Mental health disorders and mental health problems, active component,U.S. Armed Forces, 2007-2016.

Abstract

Mental health disorders have historically accounted for significant morbidity, healthcare utilization, disability, and attrition from military service. From 2007 through 2016, a total of 853,060 active component service members were diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder and 115,378 were diagnosed with mental health problems related to family/support group problems, maltreatment, lifestyle problems, or substance abuse counseling. Annual incidence rates of at least one mental health disorder decreased by approximately 6.2% during the period. Most of the incident mental health disorder diagnoses were attributable to adjustment disorders, depressive disorders, and anxiety disorders. Similar to the findings of a previous MSMR report, rates of incident mental health disorders were generally higher among females and Army members, and declined with increasing age. The number of individuals affected by any mental health diagnosis during deployment to a U.S. Central Command area of responsibility decreased from 10,951 in 2008 to 3,239 in 2016. Ongoing efforts to assist and treat service members should continue to promote help-seeking behavior to improve psychological and emotional well-being of service members and reduce the burden of mental health disorders.