Clients, problems, and diagnoses in a military community mental health clinic: a 20-month study

A descriptive epidemiologic study was performed using intake data from an Army community mental health clinic. This clinic was on a U.S. Army non-training post; data were collected over a 20-month period. Two diagnoses, occupational problem and phase of life or other life circumstance problem, were utilized by clinicians in 51% of all cases. Axis I diagnoses were found in 21% of the cases and medication was prescribed in 7%. Women were over-represented relative to men. We concluded that the patterns of diagnoses reflected the demand characteristics of the military environment. One implication of this study is that psychiatric care must be examined in the context of the community and not just as an administrative or economic system.