Mental Issues
by Toni Kemp
Last night I ran across this article. In summary, the article is about the US Army planning to hire 25% more mental health care workers to deal with soldiers returning from the war. I am so happy to hear this, the only problem is a fair number of troops will not seek help. Troops think they can handle it on their own, plus a ‘mental’ issue can kill their career. The ‘higher ups’ say it wont, but it will.
I personally know of numerous spouses who are on anti-depressants. I am going to spend sometime looking for more info on the subject. I would bet the farm that the percentage of spouses who are ‘on something’ has dramatically increased in recent years.
It’s a new world, a new war.
Did You Enjoy this Post? Subscribe to Being An Air Force Wife. It's Free!
June 15th, 2007 at 7:49 am
I heard about this this morning and totally agree with you. It’s unfortunate that they don’t seek the help because I’m sure most people need it coming from Iraq especially the people who are out on the streets everyday. Also agree about the spouse issue too. I worked at the hopsital at our last base - very true!
June 15th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I can almost guarantee the spouses are on anti depressants. I would have to be if I was in your/there shoes. As for getting help, its not totally a soldier thing, since most men of all stripes think they can handle whatever demons are haunting them, by themselves
June 15th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
My friend, Amber, is am Army wife and when her hubby returned from Iraq after being there for a year the Army required that they attend counseling sessions. It didn’t last long, but it was required. Anyways, I was wondering, does the Air Force require such a thing? Oh, and I should tell you that I think it is a good thing too (adding more mental health care workers) as being away so long and being in a war zone - seeing what they see, etc…it can really take its toll. My Dad served in the Persian Gulf War and still has issues - he was never the same after returning from that….
June 15th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
My cousin got divorced after her husband returned from Iraq. Granted, they were young (21) when they got married and got married because he was being depolyed, but his experiences while deployed were just too much for her to handle - and she didn’t like who he had become. I wish they had made more of an effort to work it out.
June 16th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I saw that article too, and was very glad to hear that news. Deployments are rough on everyone involved - and I say that as an Army wife who “only” had a twelve-month deployment, and got damn lucky that her husband’s unit wasn’t extended.
I hope beyond hope that this has some positive timely effect on our returning troops and their families.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I’m glad they’re doing something to help returning soldiers out more. I hope the soldiers take advantage of the resources. I can’t imagine trying to process the things that they have seen and dealt with without professional help, medication or a combination. And it has to be so hard to be a spouse trying to support them through it while dealing with it yourself.
Let us know what you find out about anti-depressants. I think a whole lot more people in general are taking them than ever before. That would be an interesting statistic - anti-depressant use in military and non-military families.