Mind Games Part II - To Hell and Back: Spinning the Downward Spiral

The same troops whose mental health issues were more or less ignored while they were active service members face numerous obstacles to proper care in the military's mental health system once they return. The barriers include a self-reporting process for mental health issues that is littered with disincentives for service members to self disclose; a post-deployment screening system that does not refer 78% of those who do come forward for further mental health evaluation; blizzards of paperwork for any service member seeking care; health care facilities that are already filled to capacity; and long, bureaucracy-filled waits for professional screening, diagnosis, treatment, and compensation.