Getting started is often the most difficult step in any process. If you’re a service member struggling with depression, sleep difficulties, posttraumatic stress, traumatic brain injury or any number of challenges to living a healthy, balanced life post-deployment, taking that first step toward improvement can be daunting. As simple as it seems, even clicking on a website that offers help for your concerns requires a leap of faith in yourself and the website.

That’s well understood by the developers of afterdeployment.org, an interactive wellness resource. Created specifically for service members, their families, veterans and health care providers, it takes into consideration the unique combination of issues service members could encounter post-deployment and guides their self-discovery through an engaging, media-rich experience.

It’s always the other guy. Poor sap — he’s got a drinking problem. She’s got to start standing up for herself. Those folks are in serious need of Parenting 101.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to spot other people’s problems but not our own? Some problems are easier to see than others. You may realize you drive too fast when you get a speeding ticket. You figure out you’ve gained weight when your jeans don’t fit. Speeding and weight gain are easy to recognize because they have clear-cut signs or signals. But it gets tricky when you consider such problems as depression, anxiety or combat stress. The signals for these problems can easily be misinterpreted or ignored as unimportant. So what if you’re unable to sleep through the night or lose your appetite? It’s just something going around. Sure you’re irritable and angry all the time but you have a good reason. What’s the big deal if you don’t want to hang out with your friends anymore?

What’s the impact of multiple deployments and repeated traumatic stressors on service members? Why are a significant number of military personnel experiencing psychological injuries following their deployments? What treatment options are available? What’s being done to help advance the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health?

If these questions are on your mind, consider reading the special edition of “Military Medicine.” Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) subject matter experts and others share updated research to better understand current psychological health and TBI conditions affecting the health, occupational and personal functioning of service members and veterans. Published by The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS), the journal identifies effective screening tools, diagnostic technologies and treatments for major areas of concern like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance use disorder and TBI.

Dr. James Bender is a former Army psychologist who deployed to Iraq as the brigade psychologist for the 1st Cavalry Division 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Hood, Texas. During his deployment, he traveled through Southern Iraq, from Basra to Baghdad. He writes a monthly post for the DCoE Blog on psychological health concerns related to deployment and being in the military.

When most people hear the words “psychologist,” “mental health” or “shrink,” they think “mental illness.” After all, why should you talk to those guys unless you have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression? It’s unfortunate that some people think that way, because in addition to helping with serious conditions like PTSD and depression, behavioral health specialists can offer much more. A big part of psychology concerns itself with improving physical performance.

	U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Barry Loo

This blog post was written by Dr. Shelley Carson, a psychologist with the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), a Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury center. For more blog posts written by subject matter experts at T2, visit the ‘blog section’ of afterdeployment.org.

Most everyone has experienced the blues: a few days now and then when you feel mopey, sad, a little off your game, or just tired of it all. This is part of the normal ebb and flow of emotions. Life has its ups and downs. However, when these “off” periods begin to string together for a month or longer, you may have more than just the blues: you may be almost depressed. This is not a “clinical” level of depression, but it’s more than a period of the blues that you can’t just snap out of.