• Medical Affairs Branch

  Behaviorial Health FAQ

  By seeking behavioral health care, will an officer negatively affect their career?

  Care for a behavioral health condition is no different than care for a medical condition. If an officer has hypertension or moderate anxiety-depression, Commissioned Corps leadership expects the officer to get appropriate treatment including psychotropic medications, if needed. If the behavioral health or medical condition initially interferes with the officer’s ability to do their duty, the Commissioned Corps will, with some rare exceptions, give the officer an appropriate amount of time to recover to the point that they can resume full duty. The initiation of a fitness-for-duty (FFD) evaluation is rarely based on just a behavioral health or medical diagnosis, but rather on whether the officer’s condition or treatment prevents the officer from performing their duty including the ability to be deployed for an extended period of time.

  Some behavioral health diagnoses are concerning if they are associated or potentially associated with breaks with reality (e.g. acute psychosis, schizophrenia, severe mood disorders). An officer with a condition that by its nature and natural history, can substantially adversely affect the judgment, reliability, or trustworthiness of the officer is of concern to Medical Affairs Branch (MAB) and is likely to lead to a FFD evaluation.

  Why is it important for an officer to disclose behavioral health diagnoses and treatments to MAB?

  MAB’s primary responsibility is to monitor the health status of Commissioned Corps officers to ensure that the Commissioned Corps can meet its responsibilities and accomplish its mission. MAB’s responsibility cannot be met without officers fully disclosing all of their health conditions and treatments. In addition, should an officer need ongoing treatment during deployment, proper health care cannot be provided to that individual without the force health officer knowing the officer’s current diagnoses and treatments.

  Unless an officer has associated behavioral health conditions, marital or family counselling should not be reported to MAB.

  Can an officer continue behavioral health treatment telephonically with their therapist while on deployment?

  In order to be able to be deployed, per CCI 221.02, “Medical Readiness,” Section 6-5, an officer’s health condition must be stable enough that they can “suspend any ongoing professional treatment for the period of deployment without anticipated adverse health consequences.” The Commissioned Corps cannot prevent an officer from contacting their therapist during off hours, but the officer should have no expectation that special time or technological arrangements will be made by the Commissioned Corps during deployments.
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