Lawmakers Continue to Question Personality Disorder Discharges

Full Article at: Personality disorder discharge problems persist
By Leo Shane III
Published: September 16, 2010


Lawmakers and veterans advocates criticized Defense Department officials yesterday for continued questions surrounding personality disorder discharges by the military, a practice critics say allows the military to avoid paying for some war injuries by blaming problems instead on pre-existing medical conditions.

In testimony before the House Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday, Department officials said the number of personality disorder dismissals has dropped by nearly a third in recent years, thanks to stricter regulation and new requirements for discharges. But the military in fiscal 2009 (the latest data available) still booted more than 2,000 troops for conditions they say were lingering from before their enlistment, a figure that lawmakers said is unsettling.

"Three years later, the Committee continues to hear of accounts of wrongful personality disorder discharges," said chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif. "This begs the question of how many soldiers have to commit suicide, go bankrupt, and end up homeless before real action is taken to remedy this problem?"