DoD and the VA have spent over $2 billion on drugs since 2001 to treat mental illness and PTSD, depsite evidence that such drugs can make things worse attempting to treat sharply higher rates of hospitalization. (In this, they are following the current and deplorable medical trend of treating everything with medication and not looking at root causes.)
The hospitalization rate in the Army is 70%-100% higher than in other branches. An Army doctor said the “stunning growth in numbers and rates of mental health hospitalizations … is undeniable evidence of an unprecedented and arguably unmanageable epidemic that is now threatening the viability of the force.”
What is causing this spike in mental health issues in the military? Does the unpopularity and unwinnability of our wars make morale worse and can that lead to illness? I don’t have any answers. One of my uncles is a retired Marine Colonel uncle who says medical treatment for soldiers now is a disgrace and this isn’t the Marines he spent 30 years in.
Mental trauma and PTSD cannot be treated solely with drugs. Yes, drugs can help. But they cannot substitute for desperately needed therapy and rehabilitation.
I think consideration must be given to the product that the armed forces have to begin with. Consider that, for many years, the american people have been bombarded with fluoride poisoning of metropolitan water systems aided by the use of this same sodium fluoride during routine dental care, likely for the purpose of ‘dumbing down’ the general populace to reduce the penchant for rebellion against the government. (Just one of a myriad of ways to systematically quench rebellious moods). Then, once you are a soldier, knowing that you don’t like the way the government is running things and ruining the world, you find yourself aiding and abetting these very same doctrines against an even more hapless (questionably) populace. That alone is enough to cause many people to question their own sanity. Mind you this is just barely touching on the actual sinister intentions of those that have managed to get themselves into positions to foist these situations upon general populations at large. I really wish that more people would question authority.  About everything. For every reason imaginable.