A Sailor With Diagnosed Mental Health Issues Says He's Being Targeted for Seeking Help
Jatzael Alvarado Perez began struggling with life aboard the destroyer USS Farragut last year. The ship was in the process of getting ready to deploy, and a combination of the conditions aboard the Mayport, Florida-based ship and long stretches at sea were taking a toll on the 23-year-old sailor.
"It's just not a good environment at all, it's not a healthy one for sure," Perez told Military.com in a phone conversation.
After a couple of false starts, Perez would take the advice of a chaplain and seek help for the growing strains on his mental health, eventually receiving a diagnosis of a mood disorder. Instead of getting that help, though, he's faced repeated disciplinary actions, a positive drug test that suddenly wasn't, allegations of making it all up and, finally, confinement to the ship and a reduction in rank. Eventually, the situation drove his wife to spill everything in a post on Facebook.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/11/sailor-diagnosed-mental-health-issues-says-hes-being-targeted-seeking-help.html
