Mental health disorders were the top reason that active-duty U.S. military personnel were hospitalized in 2023, a trend that began in 2009 but has shown signs of easing in the past three years, according to two new reports from the Defense Health Agency.
Musculoskeletal injuries remain the No. 1 reason service members visit a medical facility, but mental health conditions are most responsible for putting them in hospitals overnight and keeping them there, according to epidemiologists with the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division, who reviewed all medical appointments and hospitalizations among troops in 2023.
Of the roughly 62,806 times active-duty service members were hospitalized in 2023, nearly one-third — 31% — were there for mental health treatment, with adjustment disorders and alcohol abuse as the top diagnoses for men, and adjustment disorders and major depressive disorder the main diagnoses for women.
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While the median length of stay for a mental health issue was five days, some personnel stayed as long as 34 days, according to the June issue of the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report released Tuesday.
The mental health of U.S. service members has been a major focus of Defense Department policy and health programs since the late 2000s, when the number of suicides began rising among not only the active-duty component but also in the Guard and…
