I wanted to seek help for on and off depression. Maybe it's just because of my pregnancy but do you think I will be penalized by the ARMY ?

Hi SPC (Join to see) have you spoken with anyone in your chain of command or you Doctor? My his SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" was wondering if someone made you feel as though you couldn't seek help. If you EVER need someone to talk to, you are welcome to inbox me. I'm a mother as well and have been there before. Blessings to you and your unborn child.

BLUF: Offically, no. Unofficially, people may view you differently.

Medic here, and to start off, please understand that nothing I say here is meant to discourage you from seeking help. In fact, I would STRONGLY advise you to seek out your unit's behavioral health care team for any and all issues related to depression.

That being said, I agree with MAJ Carl Ballinger . The "official" answer by big Army is that no, you cannot be penalized for seeking help for behavioral issues. Think of it like this--if you're having a baby, you see an OB/GYN. If you need glasses, you see an optometrist. Cancer, you see an oncologist. Behavioral health is no different. It's just got a bigger stigma against it.

Like the MAJ pointed out though, people are people, and if your leadership has a poor attitude towards seeking out behavioral health care, there's unfortunately little you can do to change it. And sadly, I have seen soldiers negatively impacted by their leadership's archaic views on mental health. It's never an overt "give this soldier the crappy duties/missions" type stuff, but it can bleed over into decisions like who gets to go to schools first, or who attends NCOES. Again, it's unfortunate, but the reality is that we as an Army are experiencing a cultural shift away from those old attitudes, and while we're in transition we're going to encounter people who cling to outdated views.

My advice to you is, go. Reach out to your unit's behavioral health team privately, and if you feel unconfident in your leadership's ability to treat you fairly, bring that up with the behavioral health folks. They're experienced in navigating those kinds of issues.

Congrats to you and your family, and I hope you get any help you need. :)

Seek help, not just for yourself, but for the sake of your future child. I can not speak for your current chain of command and or the level of confidence and trust within that command. Perhaps you can find an ally with the chaplain... but do seek help.