DCoE Blog

• Chaplains Serve on Front Lines to Combat Anxiety, Suicide

  Posted by Beth Schwinn, DCoE Public Affairs on October 22, 2014

  
  Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Palermo

  During 22 years as a Navy chaplain, Jeff Rhodes was often approached by troubled sailors and Marines. They didn’t want to pray; they wanted to talk confidentially about relationship trouble, stress or even suicidal impulses.  

  “When they came to see me, they knew they had a safe place where they could pretty much say what they wanted to say,” Rhodes said. “As a military chaplain, I couldn’t talk to their commander unless they gave me permission.”

  Rhodes, who trained in clinical counseling while getting a doctorate in ministry at Boston University, says he could usually tell if someone needed psychological help: “If their affect was not good, if they didn’t have spontaneity, if they talked about things that made them sad on a chronic basis.

  Categories: PTSD, Treatment, Depression, Chaplains, Psychological Health   |   Comments (2)

• TBI Recovery: You Don't Have to Do It on Your Own

  Posted by Beth Schwinn, DCoE Public Affairs on October 20, 2014

  

  For more than a year, Carolyn Donahue, a support specialist with a defense program for brain-injured service members, kept in touch with Sam (not his real name), who said he appreciated her calls but insisted he didn’t need extra help.

  Like many service members, Sam, a 43-year-old Army veteran who was knocked unconscious in an armored SUV during his service in the Middle East and later re-injured in a motorcycle accident, was accustomed to toughing it out.

  Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury, DCoE, Resources, DVBIC, Psychological Health   |   Comments (4)

• Women and Girls Face Greater Concussion Risk in Sports

  Posted by Beth Schwinn, DCoE Public Affairs on October 14, 2014

  
  DVIDS photo

  In sports played by both girls and boys, research shows that girls are more likely to suffer concussions and to be more seriously injured by them, an associate professor at Michigan State University told attendees of a webinar hosted October 9 by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

  “Females are at a higher risk for concussion than male athletes,” said Tracy Covassin, Ph.D., who is also director of Michigan State’s Sport-Related Concussion Laboratory. “It’s even a higher risk than the typical college football athlete.”

  Six out of every 10,000 men who play ice hockey or lacrosse in college suffer concussions, she said, while 4.2 of every 10,000 men playing soccer do. The figures for college women are 7 per 10,000 for ice hockey, 6.7 for soccer, and 6.2 for lacrosse, according to a 2013 study by the National Collegiate and Athletic Association.

  Categories: Women, Traumatic Brain Injury, Military Children   |   Comments (0)