Social distance: the best prescription for physical health but the worst for mental health

CPT David Gowel — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:38:35 -0400

Like many veterans in the workforce trying to stay productive while offices, schools, and social gathering places are limiting our contact with each other, I’m trying to find my new normal. I think the social distancing preventative measures that we are all taking to flatten the curve and reduce the risks of this coronavirus will likely save a lot of people who would have otherwise died waiting for a ventilator to free up.

However, the major health issue looming (especially among our military community members at greatest risk for COVID-19) is the rapidly growing mental health problem caused by this perfect storm of contributors to suicide risk. Social distancing is the best behavioral change we can make to mitigate the spread of this deadly virus, but this isolation is the worst for anyone who is already dealing with mental health challenges.

With the financial, employment, and physical health stressors that are heightened because of COVID-19, suicide risk is now greater than it was previously. Social distancing - although needed to prevent the immediate risks of this deadly virus - is planting seeds of interwoven stressors that may lead many people to consider suicide. The American Psychological Association has defined some of the mental health risks of social isolation at https://rly.pt/SocialIsolation . Those risks are all amplified when people are worried about their family’s health, their job, the stock market and all other challenges associated with our current global situation.

So, as members of the military community, what do we do?

First, there are many ways to socialize with people without getting within coughing distance of them:
• Pick up the phone and text, call, FaceTime, etc. a fellow veteran, service member, veteran caregiver, or family member (gold star or otherwise) who may be isolated due to social distancing. Prioritize those who are likely impacted most by everything going on in the world. After that call, dial someone else that fits the same profile and make this a regular part of your day so you and those you contact will feel more connected. Finally, reach out to people that work for you and check how they’re doing.
• Share something lighthearted online like this example from CW2 Bodnar on RallyPoint - https://rly.pt/Humor
• In the case of your family, caregivers and others with whom you still have regular physical contact, look for ways to improve the quality of your time together. Play more board games, watch movies, play music, or whatever you enjoy doing together.

Second, there are veteran serving organizations out there with great people working to address this problem and help us all get through this together. Some not-for-profits with whom we work and recommend include the following:

Cohen Veterans Network has fifteen military mental health clinics across the US offering both therapy and case management services via telehealth https://rly.pt/CVNTelehealth

AAFMAA, founded in the wake of Custer’s Last Stand and serving the military community for over 141 years, continues to give the military community peace of mind today. They provide low interest loans https://rly.pt/AAFMAALoans and life insurance https://rly.pt/AAFMAALifeInsurance
for qualifying members of the military community. They also have free personal finance information at https://rly.pt/AAFMAALearningHub

Caregiver support organizations (Caregivers have a hard-enough job without COVID-19, so here are a couple resources to help this important population)
• The VA - the source of veterans’ benefits and care has resources for caregivers in need. https://rly.pt/VACaregiver
• Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving - a caregiver focused entity serving this audience for decades, founded by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, shared this COVID 19 focused information. https://rly.pt/RCICaregiver

Just like deployments, training exercises, and other events in our military careers that change most of our daily lives instantly, we’ll get through this together.

SocialIsolation

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Mar 24 at 2020 1:42 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:42:28 -0400

Thank you for the very informative share.

Response by CW5 Jack Cardwell made Mar 24 at 2020 1:54 PM

CW5 Jack Cardwell — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:54:31 -0400

Thanks for sharing.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Mar 24 at 2020 1:59 PM

Lt Col Charlie Brown — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:59:42 -0400

Awesome information share. We at the Red Cross also welcome calls/contact at the Hero Care Center

Response by Matthew Nock made Mar 24 at 2020 3:26 PM

Matthew Nock — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:26:33 -0400

Thanks for sharing, Dave! Very strong and important points to keep in mind during all of this.

Response by LCDR Clark Paton made Mar 25 at 2020 6:10 AM

LCDR Clark Paton — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 06:10:46 -0400

Thanks for posting!

Response by CPT Bob McDonald made Mar 25 at 2020 9:30 AM

CPT Bob McDonald — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 09:30:47 -0400

While serving at the VA, I met groups of Veterans who would come to the coffee shops at our facilities not because they were there for an appointment, but rather to spend time at a place where they were likely to connect with other Veterans. Social distancing is certainly a mental health concern for our military community that so often defines ourselves by the strength of our team instead of that of the individual. Thank you RallyPoint for providing a place where Veterans and our families can stay connected during these challenging times.

Response by Randy Phelps made Mar 25 at 2020 5:30 PM

Randy Phelps — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:30:52 -0400

Dave, as the CEO of Give an Hour and a clinical psychologist for 40 years I have to agree with you 100%. It’s unfortunate that the public health term is “social” distancing rather than “physical” distancing because it’s so misleading and confusing. Reducing our social connectedness is the worst thing we can do for our mental fitness and that of our loved ones. We are social animals who crave connection - and we can literally die without it. So in this unprecedented time we need spend as much energy on maintaining our emotional connectedness as on our physical health. Fortunately it’s easy to do through technology as you pointed out . And for other tips on maintaining mental health during this crisis see Give an Hour’s website at giveanhour.org/Coronavirus-resources. Randy Phelps, PhD

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 25 at 2020 9:46 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 21:46:26 -0400

If you survived PTSD, this is a cake walk.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2020 2:24 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 14:24:39 -0400

Been doing phone calls all week for the VA to discuss hearing aid fittings and reschedule for VVC with veterans. Most of them you can tell are feeling lonely and isolated. I spent almost an hour with an elderly veteran the other day just because he wanted to talk to someone because he has not left his house in 2 weeks. Definitely isolation is hard on some people. Hopefully life can get back to normal again for folks.

Response by SPC Jalene Griffith made Apr 2 at 2020 10:31 PM

SPC Jalene Griffith — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:31:12 -0400

With all the negative going on, I've found social media to be rather toxic. I've decided to put my energies such as they are into making masks for our local hospital. I dont think the BA hospital is taking homemade PPE yet, but I know the local civilian one is. This way, I feel I am contributing to the local effort and spending the anxiety energy in a positive direction.

Response by Cpl Eric Day made Apr 12 at 2020 1:48 PM

Cpl Eric Day — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 13:48:52 -0400

if you had mentally hardened yourself like you should of this wouldn't be another problem

Response by Jack Powell made Apr 17 at 2020 7:38 PM

Jack Powell — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 19:38:25 -0400

madeintheusabyveterans.com needs a partner to help the Veterans.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2020 6:08 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 14 May 2020 18:08:35 -0400

The stay-at-home orders I believe have been a perfect storm for mental health issues including suicide and substance abuse that's why I believe in risk assessment they got a balance that with the risk of the virus what I think they should have done was allows most small businesses to stay open especially because they would be less of a concern than leaving Walmarts open. I believe that would have caused fewer job losses. when I saw after impact on the economy. They should have also left libraries and community centers open and allow people to meet in group's spread with the six feet away you don't have to stop at all. You can require the mask the hygiene the sanitation Etc Common Sense people and I feel that there was not consistent leadership in managing this virus

Response by SSgt Richard Kensinger made Jun 21 at 2020 1:08 PM

SSgt Richard Kensinger — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 13:08:36 -0400

Excellent and very pertinent information. As a clinical psychologist and former AF ER medic, I opt for safety first. I remember the few we lost than the many we saved. Life is quite precious and tenuous at the same time!
Rich

Response by PVT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 15 at 2020 10:49 AM

PVT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 10:49:18 -0400

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