Abstract

Screening for Schizophrenia in Recruits, Active Duty Soldiers and Veterans: Can we do a Better Job?

Author(s): Mark B Detweiler, Amara S Chudhary, Pamela F Murphy

The United States military continues to have difficulty maintaining the number of troops they need to accomplish their global military missions. The United States military medical service has been struggling with methods of identifying mental disorders, including schizophrenia, during recruitment and, if possible, no later than basic training. From World War I, the United States military medical service has continually worked to improve their ability to evaluate military recruits with prodromal or mild schizophrenia symptoms at enlistment or early in their training in order to limit military and personal disruptions during active duty and especially during deployment to combat theaters. It is known that the longer the recruit progresses through training to active duty, the greater the disruption for the military command when schizophrenia is diagnosed and the soldier is withdrawn from active duty.