DCoE Expert Says Mental Health Shouldn’t Be Ignored

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Posted by Jayne Davis, DCoE Strategic Communications on October 2, 2012

The decision to seek help for psychological health concerns remains a struggle for many service members. In its 2012 lifestyle survey, Blue Star Families, organized by military spouses, reported that of military family respondents who believed they recognized signs of posttraumatic stress disorder in their service member, 62 percent of those service members had not sought treatment.

In an effort to encourage service members to seek help, Lt. Cmdr. Dana Lee, resilience and prevention subject matter expert with Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), shares reasons why you shouldn’t ignore your mental health and resources that you can access now in this video. If you or someone you know has concerns, Lee recommends that you:

Speak to someone you trust and ask for help
Use online programs and tools such as realwarriors.net and afterdeployment.org that help you understand and cope with your concerns
Download mobile apps like Breathe2Relax, T2 MoodTracker, PTSD Coach and Positive Activity Jackpot that help you help yourself
Contact the DCoE Outreach Center to get information anytime at 866-966-1020 or resources@dcoeoutreach.org

Watch the video and share it. Help is there if you reach out for it.

Posted in: Community Support, DCoE, Deployments, Families, Leadership, Psychological Health, Resources, Treatment, Veterans

Comments (3)

Comments

I have just watched the intro video above. It's OK. I would like to see the presenter have a firmer grasp of her material, and be able to present it in a more conversational, personal manner. It is clear from tracking her eye movements that she is using "cue cards", or else a teleprompter-like device to speak the script.
Thus, her words do not exactly match the text which is presented next to her face on the screen. Not intending any sort of bias or disrespect, but I suspect that her native language might not be Modern American English. I would like to see her chain-of-command support her in preparing this presentation a little better. I'd like to see her present the material better. She can clearly read the text displayed, and then speak in deeper nuance about that text, If she quotes the printed words, then comments on them, I feel that would reinforce the message better. Overall, the intro video was perfectly acceptable. Thank-you.

Bradford Hutchingson on 10/2/2012 at 1:19 PM

A stellar video. I am a former Navy chaplain who currently serves as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Clinical Addictions Counselor. "Resilience" is a value-based and value-laden paradigm, as is "recovery." One must work at maintaining his or her spiritual, moral, and emotional "core." I use the language and sound of "core" and "corps" to connote an approach to mental wellness and wholeness that centers a person in his or her central and deepest certainties. These "cores" must be regularly nurtured, much as in weight training and fitness one works the core, so too, one must regularly foster and deepen reserves of character and conviction. True, these endeavors do not guarantee that suffering and adversity will not and cannot arise, but if we are diligent and pro-active, we can face obstacles with more hope and clarity. Just as military instructors and teachers work towards "muscle memory" we can work towards "meaning memory!" Thank you LCDR Lee - Respectfully Submitted, Rabbi Steven M. Leapman, MHL, MS, LMHC, LCAC

Steve Leapman on 10/2/2012 at 10:37 PM

@Bradford, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge about resilience!

DCoE Blog Editor on 10/3/2012 at 11:03 AM

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