A Sailor With Diagnosed Mental Health Problems Says He's Existence Targeted for Seeking Assistance

Jatzael Alvarado Perez began struggling with life aboard the destroyer USS Farragut last year. The send was in the procedure of getting ready to deploy, and a combination of the conditions aboard the Mayport, Florida-based transport and long stretches at body of water were taking a toll on the 23-yr-onetime crewman.

"It's just not a good environment at all, it's not a healthy one for sure," Perez told War machine.com in a telephone conversation.

After a couple of fake starts, Perez would accept the advice of a chaplain and seek assist for the growing strains on his mental health, eventually receiving a diagnosis of a mood disorder. Instead of getting that aid, though, he'south faced repeated disciplinary actions, a positive drug examination that suddenly wasn't, allegations of making it all up and, finally, solitude to the ship and a reduction in rank. Eventually, the state of affairs drove his wife to spill everything in a post on Facebook.

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Carli Alvarado, Perez's wife and a former sailor herself, said that her married man has inverse in recent months. "He was simply downward," she said, adding that he told her "the send is just not proficient for his mental land."

"He used to exist all smiley, and now he's gained a lot of weight. He's simply not interested in his health anymore," she said.

Both have spoken with Military.com and provided various records to substantiate their experiences and allegations.

Their story comes just months after legislation was passed addressing some other high-profile failure of the Navy to look later struggling sailors -- the suicide of Brandon Caserta in 2018.

Subsequently Caserta'due south suicide while stationed at Helicopter Bounding main Combat Squadron 28 in Norfolk, Virginia, a command investigation found that the climate, specifically the young sailor's lead lilliputian officer, was a major role of the trouble.

The new legislation makes it easier for troops to trigger a mental health evaluation and requires that commanders make it happen.

When reached for a comment, the Navy confirmed that they were enlightened of the allegations fabricated by a spouse of a Farragut crewman "regarding her spouse'south status and care aboard the ship."

Lt. Cmdr. Jason Southward. Fischer, a spokesman for the Commander, Naval Surface Strength Atlantic, said that the 2-star Admiral "is aware of the comments and the command is looking into the thing."

Fischer added that "our Sailors' health and well-being is critical to our mission success."

Traditionally, the military branches are hesitant to accost allegations where an individual'south medical records or private information is involved out of respect for privacy concerns and regulations.

Perez, who at the time was a piffling officer 2d grade, turned late final twelvemonth to the ship'southward chaplain, who eventually told him he could go to the emergency room to become assist.

So, on Feb. vi, 2022, that's what Perez did. He went to the ER at the base hospital. Out of that visit came an appointment with a Navy psychologist, simply Perez says that she told him "that I was OK. … There'due south nothing wrong with me."

The Navy had been pushing sailors to seek help when facing mental health ailments. In last yr's message for Mental Health Calendar month, the service's top officer, Adm. Mike Gilday, said "all of our leaders out there, no matter your rank, let me be clear: Talk to your people, listen to them, be available, and encourage them to seek help if they need it.

"No matter your situation, there are shipmates ready to practice whatever they can to help you lot find promise," Gilday said in a two-minute recorded bulletin.

In addition to the referral for a Navy psychiatrist during his ER visit, Perez was tested for drugs and, according to medical records provided by Alvarado, those results showed he was positive for cannabinoids -- the family of drugs associated with marijuana. The ship found out about the results because the psychologist emailed the ship'due south medical staff directly, according to a copy of the email.

The married man and married woman dispute that result. However, Navy doctors ordered another drug exam, which was also positive, according to disciplinary records.

Although disputed in this case, medical studies have shown that it is mutual for some to turn to drugs and alcohol as a fashion of self-medicating when coping with mental health issues. Recent lawsuits have forced the Navy, Marine Corps and Army to review thousands of general and other-than-honorable discharges awarded to troops over the past decade for issues that may have stemmed from a armed forces-related mental wellness condition or sexual assail, often with service members dismissed for using substances when not receiving acceptable care.

The lawsuit against the Navy was brought by Marine Cpl. Tyson Manker, who was dismissed with an other-than-honorable discharge after he was caught using marijuana. He told The New York Times it helped him bargain with the traumatic experiences he encountered in Republic of iraq in 2003.

Perez'southward enlisted supervisors chosen the sailor "a valuable asset" and someone who "has so much potential" as role of their recommendations for how his example should be handled. Meanwhile, his sectionalization officer only wrote "Zero Tolerance Policy," while the department head called the case "cut and dry out." All four recommended he get to captain's mast, a less formal reprimand procedure in which a ship'south commander hears testify and metes out punishment -- in contrast to a more formal court-martial.

Perez went to captain's mast on March 22. Legal forms list both the Navy psychologist he saw after his ER visit, too as the send's corpsman, as witnesses. The ship's commanding officer reduced Perez in rank, took abroad half his pay for two months, and confined him to the ship for 45 days before he was to be separated from the Navy.

Frustrated, Alvarado reached out to the ship's legal officeholder to get her husband'due south paperwork in an endeavour to appeal the conviction. She noticed some of the drug test results were missing.

"Nosotros merely have the first from the ER," the ship's legal officer replied to her in an electronic mail on March 25. Alvarado pressed the ensign on why the second examination outcome was not with the rest of the documents she was given just said she never heard dorsum.

Instead, several hours later "they chosen my husband upwardly to the [executive officer's] room and basically ... told him everything was dropped considering they had received the test results, and they were negative," Alvarado wrote in a Facebook postal service and confirmed to War machine.com.

A letter on Navy letterhead from the Farragut's commanding officeholder posted alongside Alvarado'southward story on Facebook, dated March 25, merely says, "I have determined to vacate all punishments awarded" at Perez'due south March 22 captain's mast.

A discharge form from a naval hospital provided by Alvarado to Military.com shows that Perez was seen by the psychiatry department while on restriction for the drug charge, between March 23 and March 25, and was diagnosed with "adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood."

The statement ends with the phrase "r/o malingering." R/O is a common medical abbreviation for the phrase "ruled out."

Despite the diagnosis, Perez was standing before his commanding officer ii weeks later on at some other mast. This time, he said his command accused him of malingering -- feigning his mental wellness issues in order to escape duty. Perez said the commander again restricted him to the ship for 45 days and again reduced him in rank to picayune officeholder third class.

Perez is articulate: He sees all of this equally retaliation for trying to become mental health treatment.

Alvarado had enough. Her husband had been trying to go some mental help but instead his command had punished him. Twice.

Exasperated and hoping to get accountability, she wrote the Facebook post in the belatedly hours of Friday, April eight, charging her husband's command with retaliation and a condone for his mental wellness. As of Monday, the post has been shared about two,500 times and has more one,400 comments.

At i point, Perez wanted to leave the service over his health bug. A second Navy psychiatrist -- non the ane who flagged his drug results to the ship -- told him that would be possible, but to later say that the Farragut denied the request.

Perez said he talked to the ship's corpsman, who told him he never got a request from the psychiatrist.

Teri Caserta, Brandon's mother and one of the cardinal advocates for that police force, replied to Alvarado'south Facebook post on Sunday to offering her back up. "Carli please contact me if there is anything I can assist you with," she wrote.

If you or someone you know needs help, the Veterans Crunch Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 800-273-8255, printing 1. Services also are available online at www.veteranscrisisline.net or past text, 838255.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@armed forces.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

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