The Real Warriors Campaign is designed to combat the stigma keeping some service members, veterans and their families from seeking needed psychological health care.

NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... Use our search engine for more about the stigma associated with seeking mental health care ... and for more about the Pentagon's #1 mental health spinmeister (sometimes called a cheerleader), Dr. (Brig. Gen.) Loree Sutton.

-------------------------

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 354-09

DoD Launches Program to Fight Stigma of Seeking Psychological Health Care

The Department of Defense today launched the Real Warriors Campaign, a multimedia public education effort designed to combat the stigma keeping some service members veterans and their families from seeking needed psychological health care.

The campaign will promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration for those with psychological wounds via an interactive web site and through radio and television public service announcements.

“You're tough, and you go into the hospital when you receive a physical wound,” said Dr. (Brig. Gen.) Loree K. Sutton, director, of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. “That doesn't mean you're weak in some way. So why wouldn't you seek treatment when you've received a psychological wound?”

The launch is part of a larger effort by the Department of Defense to ensure service members and their families can access necessary treatment for the invisible wounds of war as well as the visible wound.

For more information, visit http://www.realwarriors.net  or call the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) Outreach Center at (866) 966-1020.

-------------------------

TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, DoD, Pentagon, mental health, stigma