Close to one in five soldiers in the U.S. Army had a mental illness before they enlisted, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The study, part of an initiative from the Army and the National Institutes of Mental Health, was conducted due to a spike in soldiers committing suicide, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Researchers found that soldiers that did have a mental illness reported similar afflictions, including depression, panic disorders, ADHD and thoughts of suicide. Over 8 percent of the 5,428 soldiers interviewed and surveyed said they thought about killing themselves, and 1.1 percent said they tried to kill themselves before, the LA Times reported.
The study raises inquiries into how the military recruits and screens potential soldiers. Applicants are questioned about any mental disorders, and applicants with a record of attempted suicide are usually turned away, the LA Times reported.
"The question becomes, 'How did these guys get into the Army?' " Harvard University sociologist Ronald Kessler, who led the research, told the LA Times.
More specifically, 8 percent of the soldiers had a condition called intermittent explosive disorder when they enlisted. Characterized by uncontrolled angry outbursts, researchers found this disorder more than any other in the study. The rate of those who had the disorder before they enlisted was six times the civilian rate, the LA Times reported.
"The kind of people who join the Army are not typical people," Kessler told the LA Times. "They have a lot more acting-out kind of mental disorders. They get into fights more. They're more aggressive."
The Army has traditionally been mentally healthier than the rest of the population. That is due to fitness standards, healthcare access and screening. Yet even though suicide attempts are lower than in regular society, the amount of attempts is high enough to be a cause of concern.
According to Dr. Elspeth Ritchie, a former Army psychiatrist, separating the healthy from the mentally ill applicants is not that easy.
"People who want to come into the Army are no fools," Ritchie told the LA Times. "They know if you say you had a past suicide attempt, you're probably not going to get in."
