Psychiatric Stigma in the Military

Studied military personnel's fear that the stigma of mental health care will directly affect their career via a survey of 138 commanding and executive officers. Ss completed a survey about their attitudes toward service members who had received mental health and other services. Overall, the responses were neutral, and there were relatively few negative evaluations of service members who had received such services. Military health care providers should take an active role in diminishing the stigma of mental illness and in producing clear guidelines about how lessened performance due to medical problems should be scored on evaluations.