Report: Half of vets with PTSD got treatment

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/06/20/3253372/report-half-of-vets-with-ptsd.html?sp=/99/296/331/354/

Report: Half of vets with PTSD got treatment
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press
June 20, 2014 Updated 19 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Only about half of the veterans diagnosed with PTSD last year after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan received the recommended therapy despite efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs to beef up its mental health staffing, the Institute of Medicine said in a report released Friday.

About 53 percent of the veterans whose primary diagnosis was PTSD got at least eight psychotherapy sessions within a 14-week period in 2013. But that is significantly short of the department's target of 67 percent, according to the report.

The Institute of Medicine also found issues with the way active members of the military dealing with PTSD are treated. It described the Department of Defense's treatment programs as "ad hoc, incremental, and crisis-driven, with little planning devoted to the development of a long-range approach to obtaining desired outcomes."

Together, the two departments spent nearly $3.3 billion in 2012 to treat patients with PTSD. And while both are making strides to identify and treat people with PTSD, many obstacles remain before they will have an "integrated and higher-performing" system, the report said.