HOHENFELS, Germany -- Last month as the Army worked to increase knowledge about mental health issues and mild traumatic brain injury during Brain Injury Awareness Month, the U.S. Army Garrison Hohenfels health clinic followed suit by increasing mental health services available to Soldiers and other TRICARE beneficiaries.
Community members now have on-post access to a full-time psychologist and to a psychiatrist one day a week.
With new staff and the planned acquisition of an Automated Neuro-Psychological Assessment Metric testing station soon, Lt. Col. Derek Cooper, health clinic commander, said the facility has nearly doubled its behavioral health assets and is already using them.
Soldiers that returned from Afghanistan in February with 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment's Team Cherokee -- and were exposed to trauma -- have been assessed by an ANAM team from Bavaria Medical Department Activity.
And every Soldier that deployed in January with Team Bravo completed a baseline ANAM that health-care providers, if necessary, will use to compare with post-deployment results to see if any of the troop's cognitive performance functions changed.
Copper said ANAM -- similar to an interactive computer game that assesses response, reflex, memory and recall times -- is one of the tools PCMs use to screen for mTBI.
If a Soldier's results warrant further investigation, a specialist will determine what additional tests or treatments are needed.
"March was Brain Injury Awareness Month and part of (that campaign was) really to change the culture in the Army about seeking mental health services," said Cooper.
"What we have learned is that mTBI is very curable. They can definitely recover from it. The sooner we can diagnose it the easier it is to recover from," said Chris Pongratz, a clinical social worker with the Hohenfels clinic.
Cooper said the new tool is not exclusively for Soldiers. Family members and other TRICARE beneficiaries may also be referred for an ANAM test if their primary care manager is concerned about trauma sustained from something like a car accident or fall.
In addition to ANAM, Soldiers and civilians are encouraged to take advantage of services offered by the psychologist and psychiatrist, especially as the Army focuses on reducing suicide rates throughout the ranks.
Dr. Alexandra Clarfield, the clinic's new full-time psychologist, said the new providers' services are definitely not earmarked solely for mTBI patients. Anyone can make an appointment with a behavioral health specialist if they believe they have a need or they may possibly be referred by their PCM, a chaplain or social worker.
Clarfield said she typically will see a patient first, referring them to the psychiatrist if needed.
In general a psychologist is primarily focused on cognitive skills and functioning whereas a psychiatrist will also look at interactions with other systems in the body and has the ability to prescribe medication.
Cooper said he hopes having both types of doctors available at the clinic will encourage patients to get the care they need.
"We need to eliminate the stigma of seeking mental health services," he said. "A lot of the time they are simply injuries. Soldiers shouldn't think a brain injury is any different than any other injury.
"No one should be afraid to seek behavioral health care, no matter the reason for it. We're seeing a culture shift about this in the Army and Soldiers are coming around. Hopefully because of that there will be more people seeking help and we have increased our capabilities to meet that demand."
Pongratz shares the same philosophy.
"We're trying to normalize these things and the more normal they are, like a broken leg, the more people will come in to get them fixed," she said.
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