New mental health policy may help more U.S. troops

(Corrects paragraphs 8 and 9 to clarify the change does not affect civilian workers outside the U.S. Defense Department)

By David Morgan

FORT BLISS, Texas, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. troops who seek psychological care after combat will no longer face the possibility of losing their security clearances, a major policy shift that may lead more military members to seek needed help.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday the form used throughout the U.S. government in the security clearance process will be changed to free troops from an obligation to acknowledge mental health care if it is related to combat.

That change follows numerous studies that found troops suffering from post-traumatic stress after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan believed their security clearances, critical to their jobs, would be at risk if they sought care.

Question 21, which Gates called "infamous," asks applicants whether they have consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years. If the answer is "Yes," they must list details.

Now, troops can answer "No" if the mental health care is related to post-combat stress or care sought for difficulty adjusting after deployment to war zones.

"It now is clear to people who answer that question that they can answer 'No' if they have sought help to deal with their combat stress in general terms," Gates told reporters in Texas.

"The most important thing for us now is to get the word out as far as we can to every man and woman in uniform to let them know about this change, to let them know the efforts that are underway to remove the stigma and to encourage them to seek help when they are in the theater or when they return from the theater," he said.

The form, known as the Questionnaire for National Security Positions, is used throughout the U.S. government, but the change affects only troops and the Pentagon's civilian workforce.

Col. Loree Sutton, special assistant to the Pentagon's assistant defense secretary for health affairs, acknowledged the change would initially not apply to civilian workers outside the Defense Department, including workers from other U.S. government agencies who are sent to the war zone. Many of them also experience post-traumatic stress.

She said the Defense Department would continue to examine how the form might be changed to address that problem.

"Our efforts have focused on the needs of service members," she told reporters at the Pentagon.

More than 1.5 million U.S. troops have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. About 300,000 of those service members suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, but only half receive care, according to a study by RAND Corp.

Military studies have found similar results. The U.S. Army in February said 17.9 percent of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan experienced acute stress, depression or anxiety in 2007. (Writing by Kristin Roberts; Editing by Eric Walsh)