Suicide Highlights Military Mental Care Woes

Patrick Campbell, an Iraq veteran and chief legislative counsel for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, said unlicensed professionals are not the answer to the shortage.

In this Nov. 12, 2007 file photo, Chris Scheuerman comforts his former wife, Anne, while the couple...

In this Nov. 12, 2007 file photo, Chris Scheuerman comforts his former wife, Anne, while the couple reminisce about their son Jason, in photo, in Sanford, N.C. Three weeks after an unlicensed Army psychologist concluded Pfc. Jason Scheuerman was capable of faking mental illness to get out of combat duty, he killed himself. Scheuerman's death, the subject of an internal Army investigation exposed to The Associated Press by his family, casts light on the use by the Armed Forces of unlicensed mental health professionals to help soldiers cope with the extreme stress of combat. (AP Photo/Jonathan Fredin, File)

(AP)

"To send people who are half-trained into the field is dangerous not only for the service member, but for those professionals as well," Campbell said.

Barbara Romberg, a clinical psychologist in Washington, D.C., who donates mental health sessions to recent veterans, commended the military's efforts to improve mental health care but said combat is far from an ideal environment for a psychologist in training.

"We certainly would hope that all the mental health professionals deployed are licensed, seasoned mental health professionals, and in this situation it sounds like the folks who weren't certainly would've needed a whole lot of supervision, more than the average mental health professional," she said.

Scheuerman's behavior raised enough alarms that, according to one soldier who spoke to investigators, when a call came over the unit's radios that there had been a death, he immediately suspected it was Scheuerman.

A separate investigation into Scheuerman's death last year by the Army inspector general determined the soldier's leaders relied too much on physical training as punishment. It said "military-related issues" played a role in Scheuerman's suicide.

It also said personal issues, such as a recent breakup with a girlfriend, may have contributed as well. Much of the report is blacked out.

Scheuerman's family says Hansen's license should be revoked and there should be discipline for others who they feel either mistreated their son or didn't take actions that would have prevented his death. Wright, the Army spokesman, said no decision has been made on disciplinary action related to the young man's death.

Chris Scheuerman and his wife, Anne, were in San Antonio this week for a suicide prevention conference sponsored by the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs.