War's Silent Stress: Healing The Military Family

Somehow I'm beginning to think they really don't want to or they would be talking to the people who already did it. In 1982 when I met my husband there were plenty of excuses to use, but that was then when no help was available, and this is now, when it seems as if there are groups popping up all over the place. The best suggestion I can make to congress, if they ever wanted to listen to me, which they haven't, talk to the people in this all along to know what works and take it from there. It will save a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of families and a lot of lives.

War's Silent Stress: Healing The Military Family
Posted by Rosemary Feitas on 09/18/2009


After eight years of war, the mental wellness of today's service member and to a lesser degree, his or her military family is garnering increased attention. Whether as a national security issue or moral imperative, it is quickly becoming evident that in order to maintain a strong, mission-ready military, America must deal with the excessive stress and burden today's military and their families have endured and continue to face.


The record-setting numbers of Army suicides in 2007 and 2008 were widely reported by news media, only to be overshadowed by another record set in January of this year, when more soldiers took their own lives than were killed in combat. Since January, Army suicides are on pace to set yet another record for this year. Typical causal theories for the high rate of suicides range from combat stress to trouble at home.


The response to the suicide rate from both the Army and Congress has been strong, yet not well-coordinated.


In addition to a number of congressional hearings, the Army has commissioned a $50million study with partners such as the National Institute of Mental Health and experts from academia to better understand what brought on this increase. The Army has also mandated all 1.1 million of its soldiers participate in emotional resiliency training that begins in October. Unfortunately, because of the lack of research available, the training will be modeled after the best available practices based on techniques proven effective in middle schools, certainly modified to be appropriate for soldiers -- both in terms of age and also related to the issues they are dealing with that are of course quite different from middle school children.
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Healing The Military Family