Target 13: Soldier Fights Back After Personality Disorder Diagnosis

A soldier who lives in Colorado Springs is speaking out after she was diagnosed with a personality disorder and dismissed from her deployment, then discovered shocking information in her medical file about why it may have happened.

For years, it’s been alleged that the personality disorder diagnosis is a way for the military to get rid of troops and save money. In the last decade, at least 31,000 military members have been discharged because of the diagnosis. It’s considered a pre-existing condition which means the military doesn’t have to pay benefits.

Captain Susan Carlson, a mental health worker, joined the military late in life at age 50.

“9/11 had happened and it’s something I always wanted to do, but hadn’t thought about it seriously,” said Carlson. “But there was such a need at the time.”

Carlson got top level evaluations at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where, according to her Army evaluations, her supervisors called her “highly talented” and recommended her for a promotion.

It was several years later, when she joined the Colorado National Guard, that the problems began.

“They didn’t want me to deploy with them because, prior to the deployment, I found out I had a pretty bad back,” said Carlson. “I think that, combined with my age.”

Carlson was cleared to deploy to Afghanistan where she worked at Bagram Air Base helping soldiers suffering from trauma. Soon after getting there, a soldier complained she had made sexually suggestive comments, and her chain of command ordered a mental health evaluation, calling Carlson “unreliable” and “incapable.”

A doctor from Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, Maj. Aniceto Navarro, diagnosed Carlson with a personality disorder. She was dismissed from her deployment and sent home.

“No one has ever said that to me in my professional career or private life,” said Carlson of the diagnosis.

But she said, what was even more shocking, was the note she later discovered in her medical file.

Navarro wrote: “Her command specifically asks for a diagnosis of a personality disorder.”

“Everyone was shocked,” said Carlson. “It was jaw dropping that it was in a note.”

Womack Army Medical Center spokesperson Shannon Lynch told TARGET 13, “It is never considered proper for a commander to make a request for a particular diagnosis to be given.”

Lynch said Navarro didn’t feel he was being ordered by Carlson’s command to make the diagnosis.

“The sentence referenced (in the medical report) was written in terms of the commander asking to evaluate for a personality disorder, i.e. asking if one existed, not ordering to diagnose a personality disorder,” said Lynch.

Navarro decline a request for an interview.

What happened to Carlson is just more ammunition for veterans advocates who, for years, have criticized the Pentagon for mis-using the personality disorder diagnosis. In 2010, The Vietnam Veterans of America filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department asking for records that they say will show tens of thousands of service members have been wrongly discharged. The complaint alleges the Pentagon has saved $12.5 billion in medical and disability payments that should have gone to those troops.

“To have some of these soldiers come back who’ve experienced trauma, to take these soldiers and give them a personality disorder diagnosis, it’s wrong,” said Carlson.

A spokesperson with the Defense Department told Target 13 she couldn’t speak specifically about Carlson’s case, but provided a statement regarding personality disorder cases.

“In 2008, the department instituted a more rigorous personality disorder discharge process with increased and higher level medical oversight,” said Eileen Lainez, with the Defense Press Office. “We encourage all separating service members who believe their discharges were incorrectly characterized or processed to request adjudication through their respective military department’s Discharge Review Board and Board for Correction of Military Records.”

Carlson is still waiting to find out if she’ll be discharged because of her diagnosis. In the meantime, she’s filed a complaint against Navarro and her commander, seeking an Army investigation.

She said what happened hasn’t changed how she feels about the military.

“I still love the Army,” she said. “I have such respect for the soldiers and I’ve had wonderful commanders in the past.”