Minnesota National Guard officials confront mental health stigma

Minnesota National Guard officials confront mental health stigma ahead of deployment
by Jessica Mador, Minnesota Public Radio
March 9, 2011

St. Paul, Minn. — It's been almost four years since Coon Rapids Army Reservist Molly Black returned from Iraq but she still thinks about her deployment at least a dozen times a day.

"We lost two people over there," she said. "A few more have lost limbs or are paralyzed now, so that stuff sticks with you. You have survivor's guilt."

For more than a year, the 30-year-old was based in northern Iraq where she helped train Iraqi police. She remembers the day insurgents attacked her unit with a car bomb.

"It was about 8 o'clock in the morning and a 1500-pound vehicle-borne IED [improvised explosive device] drove through the entrance and exploded," she said.

The explosion was followed by an avalanche of gunfire, mortar and rocket attacks from all directions that collapsed the building. The attack killed almost two dozen people.

Black has been in the military for more than eight years. She knows daily violence comes with the territory. But she still struggles with its effects.

When her unit returned home, Black says commanders talked only briefly about the potential for lingering mental health problems.

"You're back, this is awesome, good job, you're on your own," she said.

She feels lucky that her friends saw danger signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): She was depressed and irritable, she drank too much and stopped going out. Since then, she's gotten treatment and it's helping.

About 2,400 soldiers from the Minnesota Army National Guard will deploy to Kuwait this summer as part of Operation New Dawn, the final drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq. Research has shown that combat can have a long-term effect on the mental health of soldiers.
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Minnesota National Guard officials confront mental health stigma