Army reports significant jump in stress levels for combat troops

Army combat troops deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 had significantly higher levels of acute stress than in 2009, the service said in a Mental Health Assessment Team report released Thursday.

But the MHAT report, completed in February, shows much lower levels of depression than in troops surveyed in post-deployment health assessments over the past year, as documented in a March report by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, based on data compiled by the Defense Medical Surveillance System.

The center also reported last month that throughout the Defense Department there were more hospitalizations for mental disorders than for any other major category of illnesses or injuries.

Col. Rebecca Porter, chief of behavioral health for the Army surgeon general, said the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center reports cannot be compared to the MHAT report as the MHAT report dealt only with troops deployed to Afghanistan.

BY BOB BREWIN