Military looks at holistic prevention methods finally

Military looks at holistic prevention methods finally
by
Chaplain Kathie

Is depression contagious? Evidence suggests it is. Consider something as simple as a yawn. When you see someone yawn, the automatic response is to yawn as well. Happens to me all the time. I could see a dog yawn on TV and end up doing it. This response comes from the brain. When you see someone tired, often you find yourself feeling tired as well. When you surround yourself with people working out in groups, you usually have a better workout by being inspired, plus the competition thing kicks in and it's better than working out alone. We are all affected by the people around us and what we see.

Bad moods are contagious no matter how happy you may feel, someone going through negative motions will always bring you down. PTSD can cause something called Secondary PTSD because living with people with PTSD is stressful in itself, usually caused by the emotional roller coaster as well as their uncontrollable responses.

This report on PTSD and suicide points out that there have been suicides in non-deployed soldiers. While not all suicides are due to PTSD or mental illness, there has to be some reason behind those suicides. Consider that before anyone enters into the military they are given physical exams as well as mental health ones. After passing these tests, they start training. With some committing suicide but have not been deployed, this really leaves a big, huge question. Why?

Physically they are conditioned to withstand a lot of stress on their bodies. Mentally they have passed the tests but do the methods used to train them mentally cause a problem they are not ready to deal with considering what happened in their lives prior to military life? Were they unprepared for their new lives in the military? Was the attitude of the people around them affecting their attitude? Was it the possibility of being deployed into Iraq or Afghanistan? These questions focus on the non-deployed forces, but what about the other suicides taking place?

The National Guards and Reservists face the same problems the rest of the active military does but the truth is, when they return home, the support system for them is just not there. They have the extra stresses of being away from home and family, jobs, businesses and friends without really wanting to do more than take care of their own communities. Too often they are redeployed, taken yet again from their lives and asked to step into the life of a soldier. What about them? What about their extra stresses above and beyond deployment? What about their families when they do not want to give up as a National Guardsman/woman, because they still believe it is important for them to stay in?

All the factors involved in human emotions must be considered whenever looking at what to do about it. Most suicides happen for one very simply human need dying. The last glimmer of hope things will change has evaporated. Why get up if today will be just as bad as yesterday? Why try when you are overlooked, beaten down, unappreciated or abandoned? If you cannot hope that something will turn around and things will get better, or believe "this too shall pass" then you lose the drive to breathe.

When you have PTSD, you have this lack of hope inside of you along with everything else going on. There just doesn't seem to be any reason to face pain day after day when you are getting no help to heal. Yet when you are finally in a place when you understand why you feel the way you do, someone is listening to you without judging you, showing they care about you instead of expecting you to "just get over it" then a glimmer of hope turns into moments, hours and weeks of feeding off hope while noticing things inside of you are changing. Your soul is unloaded of the pain it has been carrying as you begin to heal.

Just as negative emotions are contagious, positive ones are just as able to be caught by other people. It depends on you. Who do you surround yourself with? Other people you know will understand you or people more willing to judge you? Who do you go to for help? Someone who is always telling you what to do instead of listening to what the problem is or someone willing to listen because you need to get it off your shoulders? If your burden is centered around spiritual problems, do you turn to someone without a simple understanding or do you go to someone with strong faith? You may like the people you hang around with, but when you are in need, you need to ask yourself if they can fill that need or feed the problem.

There is a lot more now being attempted by the military to address PTSD, TBI and suicides but until they stop thinking the troops are machines and start to look at them as highly trained humans, they will not be able to help and save lives. The good news is that they are trying.

Services work to learn more about brain ailments, suicides

Posted 6/23/2010

by Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service

6/23/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and suicides among servicemembers are interrelated problems requiring holistic prevention methods and more scientific study, military leaders told a Senate panel June 22.

"The reality is, the study of the brain is an emerging science, and there still is much to be learned," Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing about how the services are dealing with brain injuries and mental health problems.

The vice chiefs of the Air Force and Navy, the Marine Corps' assistant commandant and a Veterans Affairs Department health official also spoke before the committee. All agreed with General Chiarelli that the Defense and Veterans Affairs department officials are coordinating better than ever to diagnose and treat brain injuries and mental disorders, and that much more is known about such conditions today than when combat operations began after Sept. 11, 2001.

Still, they acknowledged, much more needs to be done. They noted that suicides are highest among ground forces. The Army reported 162 confirmed suicides last year, up from 140 in 2008 and 115 in 2007. The Marine Corps reported 52 suicides last year -- more per capita than the Army, and up from 42 in 2008 and 33 in 2007. Last year's numbers are expected to rise as more investigations are completed, officials said.

While the military officers cited increased deployments and less time at home as one area of stress, many more risk indicators such as personal problems with relationships, legal matters and careers are also factors, they said.

In the Army, 79 percent of suicides were by servicemembers who had one or no deployments, and 60 percent were on their first deployment, General Chiarelli said.

Also, General Chiarelli said, suicides among active-duty Soldiers have dropped while simultaneously increasing among reserve-component Soldiers, especially National Guard members.
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Services work to learn more about brain ailments