From The Huffington Post:
One in six service members is now taking at least one psychiatric drug, according to the Navy Times, with many soldiers taking "drug cocktail" combinations. Soldiers and military health care providers told the Military Times that psychiatric drugs are "being prescribed, consumed, shared and traded in combat zones."
The Navy Times also noted that there has been a large increase in military suicides. From 2001 to 2009, the Army's official suicide rate increased from 9 per 100,000 soldiers to 23 per 100,000. During that same period, the Marine Corps suicide rate increased from 16.7 per 100,000 soldiers to 24 per 100,000.
A Military Times investigation of records obtained from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) revealed that the DLA spent $1.1 billion on psychiatric and pain medications from 2001 to 2009, and that there was a 76 percent increase in psychiatric drugs. DLA records show:
• Antipsychotic drugs spiked most dramatically -- orders jumping by more than 200 percent.
• Orders for anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills such as Valium and Ambien increased 170 percent.
• Orders for antiepileptic drugs (also known as anticonvulsants) such as Depakote, routinely used as psychiatric medications, increased 70 percent.
• 40 percent increase in antidepressants.
Investigators found that antipsychotic and antiepileptic drugs, approved for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are now commonly used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms such as nightmares, nervousness and anger outbursts. The use of antipsychotic drugs for non-psychotic conditions such as PTSD is called "off-label" prescribing.
In February 2010, Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, the Army's highest-ranking psychiatrist, reported to Congress that 17 percent of the active-duty force and as much as 6 percent of deployed troops are on antidepressants.
Many of these psychiatric drugs prescribed to service members can also impair motor skills, reduce reaction times, and generally make one more sluggish -- or what soldiers call "stupid." So in addition to antidepressants potentially resulting in increased suicidality, other psychiatric drugs can make deployed soldiers feel less capable of protecting themselves and their buddies.