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MARINES AND NAVY AIM TO REMOVE STIGMA OF MENTAL
HEALTH ISSUES -- "We prepare for war...why not
prepare for the consequences of the war?"
Master Gunnery Sgt. Tim Garland
attended a seminar focused on combat veterans' wives. (photo: LAURA
EMBRY / Union-Tribune) |
For more about veteran and military mental health
issues, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessear
ch.php?q=mental+health&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.signonsandiego.
com/news/military/20080815-9999-1n15marines.html
Story below:
-------------------------
Marines, Navy aim to
remove stigma of mental health issues
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
The Navy and Marine Corps will roll out a program next month that's
designed to take the stigma out of mental health ailments by describing
them as largely brief challenges instead of lifelong disorders.
“These Marines are recoverable,” said Sgt. Maj. Kevin Wilson, from the
Personal and Family Readiness Division at Marine Corps headquarters in
Arlington, Va. “In the past, we thought if a Marine had post-traumatic
stress disorder, he was gone. Now it's more like breaking a leg.”
Wilson and other military officials outlined the program during the Marine
Corps' second annual Combat Operational Stress Control Conference. The
event, held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego, ended
yesterday.
Besides trying to forge a new outlook, commanders plan to intensify
education efforts so that everyone from generals to rank-and-file Marines
will be vigilant for signs of PTSD, combat stress, depression, alcohol
abuse and traumatic brain injuries.
 The
Corps also plans to appoint regional training coordinators at Marine bases
around the world, and it intends to deploy more mental health teams to
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Numerous studies in recent years by military and civilian researchers have
estimated that up to one-third of combat troops from the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars have suffered combat stress or PTSD.
Some reports have concluded that about 20 percent of Marines returning
from combat deployments have moderate mental health issues, and that
roughly half of those troops need intervention to recover.
The Marine Corps reported 2,114 cases of PTSD last year, compared with 577
in 2004.
Marine officials also said they're seeing increases in problems associated
with mental health conditions – domestic violence, suicide and abuse of
alcohol and illicit drugs.
“The good news is that while we started out not thinking too much about
PTSD, now we are thinking about a lot,” said Sgt. Maj. Dennis Reed, the
top enlisted member of the 45,000-strong, Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force.
Reed said he recognizes how the wars are taking their toll on his men and
women every time he reviews a police log.
“Some (Marines) have bad habits and turn to alcohol; others turn to drugs.
It's definitely on the rise,” he said.
In handling mental health cases, the Marines will continue to face two
priorities that sometimes conflict with each other: the pledge to fully
treat each patient versus the need to meet troop quotas for overseas
combat, especially as the Corps is expected to significantly expand its
presence in Afghanistan over the next year.
“We need combat-focused, tough Marines,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland,
commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. “We need them badly. (The
fighting) is not going to end anytime soon, and we need to take care of
our Marines.”
The Navy and Marine Corps have budgeted $93 million for mental health
outreach, screening and treatment from 2007 to next year.
Despite the major funding and high-profile announcements, it's unclear
whether the stepped-up campaign will succeed. Many details for the program
won't be released until September.
“I don't think this is the silver bullet, but it will get some people to
step up for help, and that is what we need,” said John Veneziano, director
of the substance abuse and counseling center at Camp Pendleton. “We
prepare for war; why not prepare for the consequences of the war?”
Bart Billings of Encinitas, a psychologist who oversees the United States'
oldest conference on combat stress, said the Navy and Marine Corps are
“finally on the right track. Before, they wouldn't even recognize that
there was a problem.”
Combat stress becomes a disorder only when it's not addressed promptly, he
said, and even PTSD can be treated effectively with various forms of
counseling.
Billings said it remains to be seen whether the Marine Corps and the rest
of the military will stop prescribing so many psychotropic drugs to mental
health patients and instead beef up their counseling services. The
medications can have side effects such as weight gain, impotence and
drowsiness.
TRICARE, the military's main health provider, reported that about 6
million prescriptions for psychotropic drugs were written for active-duty
troops, their families and some retired service members last year. The
figure in 2002 was 3.7 million prescriptions.
Navy and Marine commanders said the new program is meant to deal with
mental health problems before they worsen and require long-term care.
Prevention, detection and speedy recovery are the initiative's core goals.
The plan grew from a “nine-star letter” signed nearly a year ago by each
of the three-star generals commanding the Marine Corps' expeditionary
forces at the time: Lt. Gens. James Mattis, Rick Zilmer and Keith Stalder.
Those leaders called for a unified approach to the way war-related mental
health conditions are identified and treated. They said more emphasis
should be put on prevention, and they questioned whether the stresses of
war are stigmatized through use of terms that imply weakness.
They and mental health experts have said many Marines are reluctant to
seek help for PTSD and similar problems because they view them as
drawn-out disorders, illnesses and injuries.
“For the vast majority of Marine warriors, these are anticipated brief
responses to combat and operational stress,” the three generals said in
their joint letter.
Classifying mental health issues mainly as temporary hurdles will
encourage more Marines to openly discuss the risks of suffering combat
stress and then asking for treatment if they later need it, Marine
officials said during this week's conference.
“It is the leaders' responsibility for making sure Marines get help,” said
Thomas Gaskin, who heads the Marine Corps' combat-stress office in
Virginia. “It's our job to restore Marines to the extent we can by
reducing the stigma.”
Commanders need to reassure their troops that treatment is not only
available but necessary when they experience symptoms of combat stress or
PTSD – nightmares, flashbacks, emotional swings, extreme fear, impulsive
behavior and lack of concern for moral values, said Lt. Col. William Swan,
executive officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Pendleton.
For the new program to make inroads, Marines of all ranks must give honest
answers during their post-deployment briefings, Swan said.
Retired Marine Gen. Joe Hoar of Del Mar said he believes the Marine Corps
is embarking on an epic transformation of its approach to mental health
care.
“We have to change the paradigm,” said Hoar, who added that he experienced
“troubling dreams” for years after his Vietnam War service as an infantry
commander. “We have to encourage people to talk about their problems.”
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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