The War On Depression

By Courtney Halgren
The Peanut Gallery
on Armed Services:

With gridlock in the House and Senate over healthcare policy, the fate of military mental health hangs precariously in the balance. While both parties are in agreement about the necessity of an improved system for treating post-combat disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the road to bipartisanship will certainly be a tough one.

Liberals push for a highly aggressive program of government spending to improve treatment and research of combat-related disorders. Republicans propose a more moderate and economic-minded program stipulating improved training and privatizing military healthcare. The struggle to reconcile such opposing solutions to a widely recognized issue should yield intense debate, encompassing all aspects of the issue, from funding and distribution of funds to treatment and target patients.

Most significant in this opposition is the clash between the federal expenditures of each program. Democrats advocate a rigorous policy change accompanied by large-scale expansion of the budget, while conservatives promote an economically savvy and refined series of modifications.
In the midst of this conflict, the importance of treatment availability will likely be overshadowed by the economic policies of each party. Fiscal needs will ultimately dictate the degree of policy reform achieved. However, it is unlikely that the quality of patient treatment will be compromised by budgetary constraints, with initiatives to privatize military health care ensuring adequate care.

With the war in Iraq and Afghanistan establishing peaceful situations and natural disasters necessitating the appropriation of increased military aid abroad, an increase in traumatic experiences is inevitable. This pits the national economy against the health and welfare of military personnel. Anticipate intense debate in the coming weeks as Democrats and Republican alike attempt to reconcile patient health with our nation’s economic needs.