Psychological Health in the United States Military: Making Sense of What We Know

Abstract

Hundreds of thousands of United States military service members are suffering from PTSD and other psychological health conditions as a result of their wartime service. A myriad of possible system interventions and resource allocation schemas have been researched and proposed, but finite budgets and manpower dictate a careful allocation of resources to optimize outcomes. We describe a stock-and-flow model of psychological health treatment tailored to the unique context of the military’s healthcare system. Our model, implemented as a “Management Flight Simulator”, reports the impact of system interventions on areas of stakeholder concern and is designed to communicate complex systemic behaviors to those without domain specific knowledge.