House Adopts Murphy Bill To Address Soldier Suicide Crisis

Amendment Increases Number of Mental Health Professionals Within the Military

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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Contact: Brad Grantz, 202.225.2301

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The House of Representatives adopted legislation today authored by Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA) to address the military’s mental health crisis. With 22 active duty soldiers and veterans dying by suicide each day, the Murphy language provides $10 million in new funding to hire more mental health professionals to help relieve an overburdened military healthcare delivery system. The provision was inserted as an amendment to the annual Department of Defense Appropriations Act, which is expected to pass the full House of Representatives tomorrow.

“We have the best military in the world. We are strong and we are filled with strong men and women, but our country has a crisis on its hands. On average, 22 military service members and veterans die each day by their own hands. One in five suicides nationally is a veteran even though veterans make up less than ten percent of the population,” said Rep. Murphy, who also serves as a clinical psychologist in the Navy Reserve treating returning service members with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries.

“What I hear from service members, those in high-tempo work, active duty, SOCOM [special operations command], and returning from Guard and Reserve duty, is that they have a very difficult time accessing mental health care. We know that treatment early can be effective but there are just too few providers. Psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers and therapists are burdened with paperwork, screening duties, and oftentimes have too little time to counsel patients. I hear time and time again that someone has sought help off-base only to find counselors who do not understand all the needs of someone in the military,” said Murphy.

“My amendment would provide a surge of providers at a time when it’s needed,” said Murphy, citing a survey by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America that showed 30% of service members had considered taking their own life.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) expressed his support for the Murphy amendment and praised Dr. Murphy for his work on behalf of service members.

“I can say and I am sure my colleagues would agree your service in Congress has been enormously beneficial because you have been perhaps one of the strongest advocates on behalf of those with mental illness. And, certainly your service in the Navy Reserve as a psychologist is one of the reasons that when you get up to talk, people listen. So we are accepting of your amendment and acknowledge here your very, very strong and well-reasoned advocacy. Our bill of course does make investments and this will make more investments. And, we look forward to working with you and relying on your expertise and advocacy,” said Frelinghuysen.

Murphy concluded, “What we also have to make sure is for so many others who come back— whether they have been in a combat mission or even a training mission that can have its own stresses associated with that — we want to prevent these cases from accelerating to the level to where later on they need VA services and before their family life may deteriorate.”

Murphy is also the author of the bipartisan Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, which has been described as the most comprehensive overhaul of the mental health system since the Kennedy Administration. Nationwide support for the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act has come from newspaper editors, physicians, and parents of children with mental illness. With a focus on delivering acute psychiatric care to the most challenging cases of serious mental illness, the bill also includes provisions to expand access to inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment, training for law enforcement and first responders to understand how and when to properly intervene when a person is experiencing a mental health crisis. Murphy’s bill also encourages states to adopt a “need for treatment” standard of commitment rather than the imminent danger standard and breaks down convoluted legal barriers preventing family members from helping a loved one with a serious mental illness.

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