Mental disorders and mental health problems among recruit trainees, U.S. Armed Forces, 2000-2012

Annual counts and rates of incident diagnoses of mental disorders or mental health problems have increased in the U.S. military active component since 2000, but less is known about recruit trainees. From 2000 to 2012, 49,999 active component recruit trainees were diagnosed with at least one mental disorder, and 7,917 had multiple mental disorder diagnoses. Annual incidence rates of at least one mental disorder decreased by approximately 37.4 percent over the last 13 years. Approximately 80.5 percent of all incident mental disorder diagnoses were attributable to adjustment disorders, depression and "other" mental disorders. Rates of incident mental disorder diagnoses were higher in females than males. Even though the Army had the highest overall incidence rates of mental disorders, the Air Force had slightly higher rates for adjustment disorder, and the Navy had higher rates of alcohol abuse-related disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, other psychoses, and personality disorders. These findings document differences in the mental disorders experienced by recruit trainees compared to members of the active component of the U.S. military overall. Continued focus on detection and treatment of mental health issues during basic training is warranted.