Posted on Nov 9, 2014
How can we lessen the stigma about mental health problems?
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In today's military there's still a residual stigma about seeking and receiving help for mental health problems. This stigma and valid concerns about their future careers discourages many service member from seeking the assistance they need. What do you think we can do to create an environment that makes seeking help more mental health issues not just more acceptable but even strongly encouraged?
Do you think that officers and senior enlisted should be more open about their own mental health problems as to help remove the stigma or should they try maintain the perception of being strong in mind and body?
Do you think that officers and senior enlisted should be more open about their own mental health problems as to help remove the stigma or should they try maintain the perception of being strong in mind and body?
Leadership
Health
Stigma
Mental Health
Suicide
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
Wow ,This is very hard to talk about. To be honest I have been holding back my comments on here since joining, mainly the stigma for what I'm about to say here. I joined Rally Point because I need to at least read your comments about life during and after the military and to be honest it feels like family. But I also understand how others will see me not being honorable. I love my country and I have so much respect for anyone of the 1% that put their hand up and took the oath.
I'm a 19.9 year Veteran with no benefits, All firewall annual reports. never a reprimand,
22 years ago in the Air Force I ran into trouble mentally, depression, not sleeping, not eating , working through lunch breaks the list goes on and on I was top catted so no way I was able to stay in the Air Force, As I was approaching 20 years of honorable service the stress was mounting. What will I do for a living, 2 kids ages 3 and 8 months. We are trained to never give up "the can do attitude" Do more with less I bottled it up for years but stress must manifest some way. I never wanted to talk about it when I was at work, my marriage was going to hell my wife and I were both in the Air Force she was in the reserves and we both were so pride of serving. The stress of raising a family late in my career took a toll on me. I'm not complaining it's the truth. I wish someone cared enough to ask me once in a while "how are you doing" without ramifications. Instead I self medicated and was busted for it I wanted to to take my own life. I plead guilty to the charge and did my time and have been paying the price for 22 years. I let everyone down a failure so I thought, while sitting in jail I called for a mental health therapist to talk to someone that might have answers. A Lt. Col came to see me his only question was are you suicidal and that was all he was interested in. I asked him about the mental health program at the base and can I seek help. He looked at me and said "its too late your convicted" I asked him what about rehabilitation. he looked at me for a loss of words as if to say I feel your pain but couldn't answer it and said well you look okay and entered a statement in my medical records that he met me and that I wasn't suicidal. After I was released I seeked a mental health specialist at my expense. It was helpful but it couldn't undo the pain I will have to live with for the rest of my life. To make a long story short if you run into problems seek help anyway you can don't be a hero and fight through it. I think the hardest part for me is at 63 years old to this day I can't join the American Legion and no military organization will talk to me. My thoughts are Mental Health should be separate from the Command Authority. Some may not agree but look around you we all need a little help in life we are human. To sum this up if I could I would put my uniform on in a heartbeat. Thanks for reading :)
I'm a 19.9 year Veteran with no benefits, All firewall annual reports. never a reprimand,
22 years ago in the Air Force I ran into trouble mentally, depression, not sleeping, not eating , working through lunch breaks the list goes on and on I was top catted so no way I was able to stay in the Air Force, As I was approaching 20 years of honorable service the stress was mounting. What will I do for a living, 2 kids ages 3 and 8 months. We are trained to never give up "the can do attitude" Do more with less I bottled it up for years but stress must manifest some way. I never wanted to talk about it when I was at work, my marriage was going to hell my wife and I were both in the Air Force she was in the reserves and we both were so pride of serving. The stress of raising a family late in my career took a toll on me. I'm not complaining it's the truth. I wish someone cared enough to ask me once in a while "how are you doing" without ramifications. Instead I self medicated and was busted for it I wanted to to take my own life. I plead guilty to the charge and did my time and have been paying the price for 22 years. I let everyone down a failure so I thought, while sitting in jail I called for a mental health therapist to talk to someone that might have answers. A Lt. Col came to see me his only question was are you suicidal and that was all he was interested in. I asked him about the mental health program at the base and can I seek help. He looked at me and said "its too late your convicted" I asked him what about rehabilitation. he looked at me for a loss of words as if to say I feel your pain but couldn't answer it and said well you look okay and entered a statement in my medical records that he met me and that I wasn't suicidal. After I was released I seeked a mental health specialist at my expense. It was helpful but it couldn't undo the pain I will have to live with for the rest of my life. To make a long story short if you run into problems seek help anyway you can don't be a hero and fight through it. I think the hardest part for me is at 63 years old to this day I can't join the American Legion and no military organization will talk to me. My thoughts are Mental Health should be separate from the Command Authority. Some may not agree but look around you we all need a little help in life we are human. To sum this up if I could I would put my uniform on in a heartbeat. Thanks for reading :)
MAJ Ken Landgren
I went through the same stresses you went through. I believe leaders need to be trained to understand how to help those with mental conditions, how to ID them, who to send them too, send them to a Wounded Warrior Unit, and gain a sense of compassion and empathy.
SFC Michael D.
Thanks for putting that out there. I can't say "I feel ya", because I'm not in your situation but I can say "much respect" and say a prayer for you. Keep up the fight and stay in the game where ever you go and whatever you do. If you need to reach out, we're all here for each other.
We can have leaders who genuinely care. We can have caregivers who treat PTSD patients well. We need to teach them there is no shame for asking for help.
Comprehensive Soldier & Family Fitness CSF2
Our mission at Comprehensive Soldier & Family Fitness (CSF2) is to build resilience and enhance performance in Soldiers, Families, and Army Civilians. Please...
SFC, I like your suggestion about senior leaders opening up about their own struggles with PTSD, depression, mental health issues. I don't remember the General's name (I'll try to find it), but he talked about the troubles he had in this arena, and I found that VERY powerful. If a general officer can have problems, we all can.
I know that counseling used to be a problem for a security clearance, but the DoD has changed that, I assume to encourage military personnel to get the help they need without having to worry about jeopardizing their security clearance. I think that contributes to eliminating the stigma.
There's a staff section in the Army G-3/5/7 at the Pentagon (Crystal City, actually, I think) that works this issue. It's called Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness. I saw some material from that section, and it was very good. Here's a link to some info on CSF2: http://www.youtube.com/user/ArmyCSF2
The more we talk about the issue and encourage people to get help, the greater chance the stigma will lessen. Having senior leaders' support is great. And programs like CSF2 contribute to a "solution" too.
I know that counseling used to be a problem for a security clearance, but the DoD has changed that, I assume to encourage military personnel to get the help they need without having to worry about jeopardizing their security clearance. I think that contributes to eliminating the stigma.
There's a staff section in the Army G-3/5/7 at the Pentagon (Crystal City, actually, I think) that works this issue. It's called Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness. I saw some material from that section, and it was very good. Here's a link to some info on CSF2: http://www.youtube.com/user/ArmyCSF2
The more we talk about the issue and encourage people to get help, the greater chance the stigma will lessen. Having senior leaders' support is great. And programs like CSF2 contribute to a "solution" too.
CW5 (Join to see)
I think this is the General I was thinking of: MG (Ret) Mark Graham. This article/interview is most appropriate for this discussion. MG Graham lost two sons, one to suicide and one in combat. In the interview, he talks about fighting the stigmatization of suicide and depression in the military:
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/04/352772201/one-military-family-two-lost-sons-one-to-combat-one-to-suicide
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/04/352772201/one-military-family-two-lost-sons-one-to-combat-one-to-suicide
One Military Family, Two Lost Sons: One To Combat, One To Suicide
In The Invisible Front, journalist Yochi Dreazen tells the story of the Grahams, a close-knit family that lost two sons in the span of a year and then took up the fight against military suicide.
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