April 2010 Navy
By CAPT Elaine H. Allen, USN (Ret)
A mighty sea change is underway in the military’s attitude towards mental illness and “invisible” or “silent” wounds. ADM Mullen speaking at a January DoD/VA Suicide conference said, “I have a real sense that we’ve got to create a much broader network of anonymous help that is effective so that individuals have a way to seek help, get help, and not be consumed by this thought that it’s either my career or my spouse’s career that I’m putting in jeopardy until we break through it.”1 Of Admiral and Mrs. Mullen’s remarks, Military.com said, “The emotional wounds are so deep and the suicide rates so high that top Pentagon officials broke a generations-long code of silence...speaking publicly and vehemently about the effects of mental illness.” Army wife “mnspouse” blogged: “Mental health isn’t about being weak; it’s about being strong enough to know when you can handle something and when you need backup (aka help). If there’s nothing wrong in calling for support during a firefight, then there can’t be anything wrong for getting support when the firefight is happening in your head.”
Whether this change is driven by increasing military suicides, new research findings, or technological possibilities, the mid course correction is underway. In December, a new study reported that in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) there is a “chemical change in the brain caused by trauma which, hopefully, can be diagnosed, treated and predicted by brain scans and blood tests.”2 BUMED is seeking private sector help in developing “a sturdy weatherproof portable brain scanner to help identify and diagnose head injuries, psychological traumas and screen brain waves for signs of PTSD, anxiety and depression.”3
PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), two distinct conditions, are often confused, can coexist, and have similar symptoms. DoD’s Force Health, Protection, and Readiness defines PTSD, as “a condition that develops after someone has experienced a lifethreatening situation, such as combat, in which the event involved intense fear, hopelessness or horror.” After return to a safe environment the warrior:
- Can’t put it out of his/her mind, has repeated nightmares, vivid replays;
- Feels numb, detached or avoids reminder of the event; and,
- Feels on-edge, startles easily, is irritable or angry for no apparent reason, is hyper-vigilant of surroundings, and has trouble relaxing or sleeping.
In PTSD, these experiences stay with them most of the time and interfere with their ability to live their life or do their job.4 Countless veterans from earlier conflicts still suffer undiagnosed and untreated PTSD, living with but not understanding their shattered sleep, health, marriages, or careers.
TBI is an “injury which results from hitting or violently shaking the head, such as from blast or explosion, in which a ‘concussion’ or ‘closed head injury’ can result.” It can range from being dazed or confused to losing consciousness. In a NOSC visit recently, a psychological outreach team asked for a show of hands of those, during IA, who had been in or near an explosion? Most hands went up. When then asked how many had been screened for TBI, no hands.
Considering increasing suicides, dysfunction and intense stress from redeployment, while the military organization introduces care, procedures, and programs, let us all become part of the solution, a proactive supportive team concerned for our fellow Warriors/families.
Let’s be the Navy that really takes care of its own!
If you or anyone you know is considering suicide, call 911 or the Suicide Prevention Hotline 1- 800- 784-2433, or 1-800-273-8255, 7/24/ 365.
If you are in distress from combat trauma, call your doctor, Ombudsman or Military One Source 1-800-342- 9647.
References:
1 Transcript at http://www.jcs.mil/ speech.aspx?id=1314
2 Kelly Kennedy, Air Force Times Web site, reporting on studies at Yale, Duke, and Durham, VA Medical Centers, released at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting 6-10 December 2009. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
3 Navy Times, Frontlines, Inside your head, 25 January 2010, p. 6
4 Force Health Protection and Readiness, Policy and Programs, TIB and PTSD Quick Facts