State Department creates mental health office for employees

Above: The current U.S. embassy in Baghdad is scheduled to be replaced by a newly-built half-billion dollar complex in September.

The State Department plans to create a new mental care office and require employees to take additional time off to deal with a surge in stress disorders among diplomats in danger posts abroad, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

The steps were proposed in response to the findings of a survey that found up to 17 percent of diplomats serving at such posts may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or similar problems, the officials said.

The figures, which some fear could be far higher in Baghdad and Kabul, are to be sent to all U.S. diplomatic missions in a cable as early as Tuesday after The Associated Press reported the results on Monday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"The bottom line here is that we are going to do what we need to do to help out our people, if people need help, if they need counseling we're going to do that," he told reporters, adding that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is personally involved in efforts to improve the department's ability to assist diplomats.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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