More U.S. troops were hospitalized for mental health disorders than any other reason in 2009. Mental health hospitalizations throughout the military topped injuries, battle wounds and even pregnancy and childbirth for the first time in 15 years of tracking by the Pentagon’s Medical Surveillance Monthly report. USA Today’s Gregg Zoroya broke the news Friday. Mental health care accounted for almost 40% of all days spent in hospitals by servicemembers last year, the report said. Of those hospitalizations, 5% lasted longer than 33 days. For most other conditions, fewer than 5% of hospitalizations exceeded 12 days, the report said. In 2009, there were 17,538 hospitalizations for mental health issues throughout the military, the study shows. That compares with 17,354 for pregnancy and childbirth reasons, and 11,156 for injuries and battle wounds. Psychological issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder exact a toll in lost manpower, the study said. Four mental health issues - depression, substance abuse, anxiety and adjustment problems such as PTSD - cost the Pentagon 488 years of lost duty in 2009. ‘There’s no shame in my game, Herschel Walker told a […]