Feeling secure about seeking help [Virginian – Pilot]

IF YOU LIVE in Washington, D.C., long enough, you will inevitably get interviewed about someone you know who wants a security clearance. I've done these interviews about a dozen times in the past 20 years for friends, neighbors or former colleagues.

An investigator shows up at your house seeking information based on a questionnaire the friend filled out. Afterward, the friend under scrutiny will sometimes call, always worried about the same thing (besides the college pot smoking): What happens when he or she tells the truth about having seen a psychiatrist or taken antidepressants?

The Defense Department is vigilant about mental instability for obvious reasons, and the Navy Yard shooting is likely to make it more so.

The central concern now is how shooter Aaron Alexis, who was discharged from the Navy and had a history of bizarre and paranoid behavior and two firearms-related arrests, could have held on to his "secret" clearance, a level below "top secret."

Four U.S. senators have called for an investigation into the clearance process. Surely the investigation will uncover gaps in the system and places where it could be tightened, especially when it comes to contractors.

But it would be a shame if the result was that people seeking a security clearance who have mental health issues become less likely to get the help they need because they don't want to leave evidence of seeking treatment that could bar them.

A 2008 RAND survey asked service members why they don't seek mental health care. The survey was aimed at figuring out why more service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan don't get help, even though about a third are thought to have post-traumatic stress, severe depression or traumatic brain injury.

One of the top reasons was "I could be denied a security clearance." Another was "it could harm my career," and a third was "my co-workers would have less confidence in me if they found out."

The Army Central Clearance Facility has insisted that clearances are not often denied for mental health reasons.

The official statistic is reassuring: an average of four cases per year, or less than one-quarter of 1 percent of cases. (The main reasons for denial are credit card or mortgage debt, which is thought to make someone vulnerable to bribes.)

But among military personnel, the stigma around mental health care lingers. (Think of Carrie Mathison on "Homeland," sneaking her antipsychotics.) As Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, explained in a Defense Department memo on mental health, "People are afraid they are going to lose friends. They're afraid they're gong to lose their chance at promotion. After the survey, the DOD made an important change to the security clearance questionnaire to dispel the stigma.

Question 21 used to read: "In the last 7 years, have you consulted with a mental health professional or consulted with another health care provider about a mental health condition?"

Now the question is surrounded by clarifications, caveats and exceptions:

Mental health counseling in and of itself is not a reason to revoke or deny a clearance. In the last 7 years, have you consulted with a health care professional regarding an emotional or mental health condition or were you hospitalized for such a condition?

Answer "No" if the counseling was for any of the following reasons and was not court-ordered:

1) strictly marital, family, grief not related to violence by you; or

2) strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment.

If you answered "Yes," indicate who conducted the treatment and/ or counseling, provide the following information and sign the Authorization for Release of Medical Information Pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Alexis underwent a background check by the Office of Personnel Management in 2007. He got his secret clearance in 2008 when he was a Navy reservist, to last 10 years. It's unclear what he reported on his mental health then or whether he avoided being treated for fear he would be denied clearance.

Either way, there are other places the process could have been tightened up in order to flag him - by looking at his Navy discharge records or police arrests. None of them requires the Defense Department to dial back on its newly enlightened stance on mental health.

As Marc Frey, a former senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security told The Washington Post, "Just because you're depressed doesn't mean you're going to sell secrets to the Iranians."

Hanna Rosin, a senior editor at The Atlantic, is a columnist for Slate.