Mental health and spiritual health should not be either or none

Using Chaplains in the military to address PTSD is nothing new. As a matter of fact it's pretty ancient. There have always been religious leaders accompanying troops into battle no matter what generation or nation did the fighting. What is wrong about this? The fact that Chris Rodda addresses nothing more than copying the letter from Veterans for Common Sense, her choice of title shouts out something she does not address. The fact that Chaplains are needed to substitute for mental health professionals should have been the primary focus under a title like this. It is happening and has been happening because when the first troops were sent into Afghanistan and then into Iraq, the Bush administration was ignoring anything that had to do with taking care of the wounded. Mental health was the last thing on their minds.

I fully agree with Veterans for Common Sense and that Chaplains, no matter what faith they practice, should never, ever try to force their beliefs on anyone, especially men and women under their command. Chaplains have a higher rank than most of the men and women turning to them for help. In emotional crisis, it takes a lot of courage to go to talk to someone but it also requires hope that when they leave the person they turn to, they feel better instead of worse. Proselytizing instead of ministering removes the hope that they will feel better. They begin to think what they are going thru just doesn't matter unless they convert.

The troops are in trouble spiritually and mentally because no one thought about them when they were sent into combat any more than they thought to address the Army's report that repeated deployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50%. When the commanders made the decision to repeatedly send them back, they should have also deployed an Army of mental health crisis teams to take care of them, but they didn't. They took so little interest that men like Dr. Hasan, the accused Fort Hood shooter, was promoted up the chain and put in a position to take care of the mental health of troops he hated.

PTSD is a wound to the emotional part of the brain and as such, it is necessary to medically and spiritually treat it. Chaplains cannot be left out of this treatment but they should never have to replace mental health workers. Keep in mind that military Chaplains are also fully trained with Bachelors Degrees and part of their training is psychological.

While the proselytizing is bad and most Chaplains think it is their job, it is clearly wrong needing to be addressed but there is a bigger problem that is all too often overlooked.

When the condition is PTSD, the people treating it have to be fully educated on the difference between PTSD and other mental illness. PTSD is caused by an outside force and not an internal genetic mental illness. It is an anxiety disorder and only comes from surviving traumatic events. If they don't know anything about PTSD, it often resembles other mental health conditions. If they are looking for depression, it's there. If they are looking for "personality disorder" the symptoms are there but they need to know the difference between diagnosis of PTSD or any other illness. Chaplains unfortunately have been given very little training on PTSD. I've heard some admit they know nothing about it, yet they were supposed to be treating it when they were not trying to get troops to convert.

Muslim Chaplains treat Muslims or anyone interested in it. Hebrew/Jewish Chaplains treat that group. Christian Chaplains treat Christians or anyone interested in it but they are not supposed to be trying to convert someone outside their faith before they take care of them. There are not enough Chaplains to go around for any faith, so troops must turn to anyone available. This is where they line gets crossed. Someone who says they believe in God but does not practice as a member of any religious group still has spiritual needs that need to be taken care of and the Chaplains are supposed to be able to minister to them where they are spiritually.

I am a non-military Christian Chaplain but I have promised to take care of all people, no matter what faith or lack of it they have. It isn't up to me to decide these people should be converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith just because I am Greek Orthodox. It isn't up to me to decide anything other than how I can help them as a human.

Military Religious Freedom is a very valid protector when it comes to crossing the line of what the Constitution allows. Veterans for Common Sense are one of the bona fide heroes as watchdogs for the sake of the troops and veterans and their work needs to be taken seriously but it should never be taken so lightly that a headline like this ties to minimize the importance of this undertaking and the very real problem of not enough mental health workers or trained Chaplains to take care of the crisis of PTSD. Mental health and spiritual health should not be either or none because both have been proven to heal more deeply considering it is an emotional crisis after trauma and does not begin within the person. It attacks them!

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has learned on numerous occasions over the past several years about blatantly sectarian Christian religious programs and Christian proselytizing in the military. The proselytizing is unconstitutional and we demand you issue an order to stop it now.

Chaplains and Religion Substituted for Professional Mental Health Care in the Military

Chris Rodda
Senior Research Director, Military Religious Freedom Foundation; author, "Liars For Jesus"
Posted: August 15, 2010

The following is a joint letter sent by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) and Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The military's practice of substituting religion for professional mental health care for PTSD and suicide prevention has become increasingly frequent, with alarming reports coming in to MRFF from active duty troops, and reports coming in to VCS from veterans who were subjected to this practice while on active duty and are now suffering the consequences of not getting the professional help they needed when they needed it.
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Chaplains and Religion Substituted for Professional Mental Health

Note to the writer of this, it is not "now" and not "new" because the reports have been coming out for a very long time. This crisis has been getting worse because people with the power to do something about it wouldn't even bother to learn. As for the Chaplains in the military crossing the line, that is not new either. It was done in all wars but the Chaplains trying to do it were stopped.