Real Warriors Campaign shows no shame in asking for help

Panel Discusses Post-traumatic Stress
By Christen N. McCluney
Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2010 – As the frequency and length of military deployments increase, servicemembers and their families are faced with challenges associated with deployment and combat.

Building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning servicemembers and veterans are important steps in helping to prevent and treat combat stress reactions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The biggest challenge is often related to the mental health stigma that exists out there,” Air Force Lt. Col. Christopher Robinson, senior executive for psychological health at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said in a “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable yesterday.

The Defense Centers of Excellence partners with the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments and a network of military and civilian agencies and mental health experts to encourage servicemembers to increase their awareness of psychological health and traumatic brain injury concerns and use resources available to them.

Army Staff Sgt. Meg Krause, a reservist and Real Warriors Campaign volunteer, as well as retired Navy Cmdr. René A. Campos, director of health care issues and government relations for the Military Officers Association of America, joined Robinson on the conference call.

The Real Warriors Campaign, sponsored by the Defense Centers of Excellence, combats the stigma associated with seeking psychological health care and treatment. At the heart of the campaign are servicemembers like Krause, who are proving through example that reaching out for care does not mean the end of a military career.

Krause, who experienced PTSD after a tour in Iraq, discussed how she thought she would be able to cope after returning home. Her biggest fear was that she would lose her job if she admitted that there was something wrong.

“I figured a few nightmares or flashbacks here or there were normal, and did my best to cope and avoid triggers … as it turned out I faced a larger struggle than expected,” Krause said.

Krause said she began having issues with substance abuse and neglected her military commitments. It wasn’t until she was contacted by her unit, she added, that she realized she would not lose her job or be disciplined for having PTSD. Her commander told her he had received treatment for PTSD, she said, and that helped her to discover that there was no shame in admitting she needed help.
read more here
Real Warriors Campaign