Mullen links military stress to health clinic shootings, says mental health problems hidden

Mullen: US must aid soldiers’ mental health

WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest-ranking military officer says the United States has to do a better job of taking care of soldiers’ mental health.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the killing of five people at a Baghdad mental health clinic appears to back him up. The alleged shooter was a U.S. Army sergeant said to have mental health problems.

Mullen told Congress on Thursday there’s still a stigma attached to mental health treatment within the military. He told of an exchange with a sergeant last month in which the woman told him bluntly that soldiers and families are hiding their problems.

The sergeant told him that probably leads to suicides, and Mullen said he agrees.

The Obama administration wants to expand treatment with its new budget proposal.