VA chief pledges to add mental health services

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson pledged Monday to add mental health services at more than 100 VA medical centers to fight resistance to seeking help for depression and other illnesses.

The VA is being pressed by growing cases of mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury from veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Nicholson said at a national forum of VA mental health experts. He said the department will work harder to meet the challenge.

To fight stigma against seeking help for anxiety and depression, the VA this year is devoting $37.7 million of its nearly $3 billion mental health budget toward placing psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers within primary care clinics.