Why Does Good Mental Health Matter?

How often have you been asked ‘how are you feeling today’ and answered the question truthfully? We usually answer with a quick ‘I’m fine’ or ‘good’. However, the answer to this question can differ from person to person, especially amongst those who are suffering from prolonged mental health distress. 

The impacts of mental health distress, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are more common than most are aware. According to a 2020 National Institute of Mental Health study, nearly one in five adults in the United States lives with a mental health condition.

Each year on June 27th, the nation recognizes PTSD Awareness Day, as a reminder to educate ourselves and others about PTSD, and how to offer help to those who might need it.  

What exactly is mental health?

According to MentalHealth.gov, mental health includes several components:

• Emotional; how we feel 
• Psychological; how we think
• Social well-being; how we act

Mental health also plays a role in how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Maintaining good mental health requires consistent and constant maintenance. 

Recognizing the signs and symptoms of PTSD

According to the National Center for PTSD, it’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after a traumatic event.

It may be hard to do daily activities, like go to work, go to school, or spend time with people you care about.

Symptoms may also include:

• Reliving the traumatic event.
• Avoiding things that remind you of the traumatic event. 
• Having more negative thoughts and feelings than before the event.
• Feeling on edge or keyed up (also called hyperarousal).

Symptoms of PTSD may fade after a few weeks or months, or they may come and go over time.

Taking a closer look at PTSD

PTSD is defined by the National Center for PTSD as a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event. 

These types of experiences can include the following:

• experience in combat

• a natural disaster

• a car accident

• sexual assault

A survey found that 83% of all U.S. military veterans, as well as active duty service men and women, have experienced PTSD since the 9/11 attack as a result of their military service.

It is important to remember that everyone experiences PTSD differently. Symptoms vary in intensity and can include nightmares, flashbacks, and trouble concentrating.

What mental health help and treatments are available to military members and families? 

Many military members qualify for nonemergency mental health treatment through TRICARE. Listed below are a few examples of those treatments:

• Office-based outpatient treatment: (psychotherapy, substance use disorder treatment, and more). This may include individual, family, or group therapy. Different types of therapy are available to help people with various mental health needs. These services can help decrease symptoms and increase well-being and healing.
• Intensive outpatient treatment: This is typically a form of therapy, counseling, or rehabilitation where patients go to a treatment center several days a week for, a few hours at a time.
• Partial hospitalization programs: These programs provide daytime treatment, where the patient lives at home and commutes to treatment for six or more hours per day for up to seven days a week.
• Psychiatric residential treatment centers for children and adolescents: These residential centers provide therapeutic structure and monitoring in a home-like environment.
• Inpatient treatment: This is the most intensive level of treatment. This is 24-hour care in a treatment facility or hospital. It’s usually a short-term treatment until the patient can transition to a different level of care.

Emergency inpatient hospital services also cover psychiatric emergencies. Services include the following:

• Management of drug use withdrawal symptoms (Detoxification).
• Stabilization of the individual. 
• Treatment of any medical complications that are a result of the psychiatric emergency.

Resources to assist those who struggle with PTSD

There is hope for those who struggle with PTSD. It is important to remember that reaching out is a sign of strength. 

PTSD is treatable and getting help early can significantly improve your symptoms. Treatment can make you feel in control and give you tools to cope.

A few commonly used treatments are listed below:

• Prolonged Exposure (PE)
  Teaches you how to gain control by facing your negative feelings. It involves talking about your trauma with a provider and doing some of the things you have avoided since the trauma.
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
  Teaches you to reframe negative thoughts about the trauma. It involves talking with your provider about your negative thoughts and doing short writing assignments.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  Helps you process and make sense of your trauma. It involves calling the trauma to mind while paying attention to a back-and-forth movement or sound (like a finger waving side to side, a light, or a tone).

The Department of Veteran Affairs provides care for veterans for their mental health needs. The following are a few programs and services offered for those who are on the road to recovery. 

• AboutFace: Produced by VA’s National Center for PTSD, AboutFace features the real stories of veterans who have experienced PTSD, and their family members and VA clinicians. By watching the videos on AboutFace, you can learn about PTSD, explore treatment options, and get advice from others who have been there.
• National Center for PTSD: This website provides information, resources, and practical advice for veterans, their family members and friends, and the public when dealing with trauma.
• VA’s PTSD Program Locator: All Veterans Health Administration Medical Centers offer PTSD treatment. This locator will help you find PTSD treatment programs that may be available at facilities near your home.
• Vet Centers: If you are a combat veteran, you can bring your DD214 to your local Vet Center and speak with a counselor or therapist — many of whom are veterans themselves. This service is free and available without an appointment, regardless of your enrollment status with VA.

The families and loved ones of those who struggle with PTSD are also heavily impacted. This is especially true for children. There are resources that focus on the family’s needs and mental health as their loved one receives treatment. 

• Military chaplains are responsible for tending to the spiritual and moral well-being of service members and their families. Chaplains are a great resource for families who are struggling with the effects of mental health struggles within their family.
• The website militarykidsconnect.dcoe.mil provides activates, resources, and information on helping military kids cope with the struggles of military family life that include parents with PTSD.

You are not alone!

The Defense Health Agency recognizes that mental health is a priority among service members and their loved ones. 

Two years of operating in the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on mental health. PTSD is one of many mental health diagnoses that service members and their families faced.

There is hope in treatment for service members. Knowing the risks and signs, and taking steps to seek help, is the start to a journey of healing and living a mentally healthy life.

 If you or a loved one need immediate help, you can call the Military Crisis Line (or Veterans Crisis Line) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and choose option #1.

The Military Crisis Line connects you to a trained counselor with a single phone call. This confidential, immediate help is available 24/7 at no cost to active-duty, guard, and reserve members, their families, and friends.

It’s important to remember that you are not alone!

 

Resources:

Elflein, J. (n.d.). Topic: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Statista. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/topics/7449/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/#dossierKeyfigures 

Get the mental health care support you need with Tricare. TRICARE Newsroom. (2021, May 20). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://newsroom.tricare.mil/Articles/Article/2626332/get-the-mental-health-care-support-you-need-with-tricare 

Home. Home | Military Kids Connect. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://militarykidsconnect.health.mil/ 

Home. TRICARE. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.tricare.mil/CoveredServices/IsItCovered/MentalHealthTherapeuticServices 

Military relationship & family support • military onesource. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.militaryonesource.mil/family-relationships/ 

PTSD, N. C. for. (2013, August 15). Va.gov: Veterans Affairs. Home. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/ 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Mental illness. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness#:~:text=Mental%20illnesses%20are%20common%20in,(52.9%20million%20in%202020) 

Va.gov: Veterans Affairs. PTSD Treatment Basics. (2018, August 8). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand_tx/tx_basics.asp 

Va.gov: Veterans Affairs. PTSD: VA Programs & Services. (2009, April 22). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/ptsd/next-step.asp 

What is mental health? What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health 

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