DCoE Blog

• Clinician’s Corner: Military Psychological Health Experts Answer Providers’ Treatment Questions

  Posted by DCoE Public Affairs on June 30, 2015

  

  To support Mental Health Awareness Month in May, experts from Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) invited questions from health care providers who treat members of the military. The questions and answers appear below.

  • Q: “Is there anything in the DoA/DoD regulations or elsewhere indicating that a service member must be chapter separated if the member demonstrated suicidal behavior (parasuicide) only once and was subsequently diagnosed with a personality disorder (borderline personality disorder)? A driving factor in this specific case is that the service member is a military police officer.”

    Sheila B. Albers, LCSW, CAP, ASAP Counselor

  Categories: PTSD, DCoE, Resources, Treatment, Psychological Health   |   Comments (3)

• Q&A: How a TBI Champion Talks with His Children About Brain Injury

  Posted by Robyn Mincher, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center on June 19, 2015

  
  Photo courtesy of Ed Rasmussen

  As a veteran who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during military training, Ed Rasmussen understands how it affects him and others. At home, he makes sure his kids know what TBI is, and how it may impact his behavior.

  Ed will share his story in an upcoming “TBI champion” video series for A Head for the Future, a TBI awareness and prevention initiative of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC). TBI champions are members of the military community who have experienced brain injury in noncombat settings — such as in motor vehicle collisions or training incidents — and who are sharing their inspiring stories of recovery and hope with the military community.

  Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury, Personal Stories, Families, Resources, Military Children   |   Comments (0)

• From One Military Family to Another: Tips to Keep Your Kids Safe this Summer

  Posted by Lt. Cmdr. Cathleen Davies, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center on June 17, 2015

  
  U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jacob A. Singsank

  In the warmer months, I love getting outside and being active with my son. As a 6-year-old, he knows how to bike, swim and generally run around — and he loves it! As his mom and clinical training and education chief at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), I know it is important to keep him safe, and prevent brain injury.

  It’s vital to know that kids can be at risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI), especially in the summer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls account for 55 percent of TBI in children. They can happen at the pool, on the playground, on the road or just playing outside. Almost 26,000 children and adolescents are treated in emergency departments for TBI caused by bicycle-related injuries every year.

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

• Iraq War Veteran Talks About PTSD, Recovery

  Posted by Carol Roos, DCoE Public Affairs on June 16, 2015

  
  U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy Chacon

  Master Sgt. Chris Eder didn’t know what posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was when he was diagnosed with it after two deployments to Iraq. Eder, who racked up more than two decades of service as a public affairs officer in the Air Force, was sent to Baghdad in 2003 and 2007 to serve with the American Forces Network attached to the Multi-National Forces Iraq-Combined Press Information Center.

  He still remembers the first of many brushes with death there when his unit, stationed in what had been a luxury hotel, was fired on by 10 rockets. As bad as some situations were, Eder is alive today because he missed some of the worst encounters with the enemy.

  Categories: Personal Stories, PTSD, Treatment, Psychological Health   |   Comments (3)

• Are You Moving? DCoE Resources Can Help

  Posted by Myron J. Goodman, DCoE Public Affairs on June 10, 2015

  

  Both families and single service members, especially those with serious brain or psychological wounds, face serious obstacles when relocating or retiring. They may leave a battle buddy behind or a person who they have grown comfortable talking with about what they’re going through.

  People think moving is easy for service members, especially singles, said George Lamb, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) outreach chief.

  “They don’t have to worry about a child or family, and everything is already set up for them where they are going to move.” But single warriors lack that built-in support system, “someone to talk to and to discuss things with,” Lamb said.

  Categories: DCoE Products, Resources, Training, Military Children   |   Comments (0)

• How to Improve Your Health with Mindfulness Meditation

  Posted by Dr. Marina Khusid on June 3, 2015

  

  As described in previous blog posts, mindfulness meditation has swiftly gained popularity as a self-care strategy for improving psychological health. It’s not only a hot media topic, but also an exploding area of new research. However, many people are confused about the definition of mindfulness and the different types of mindfulness meditation. In this post, Dr. Marina Khusid, a family medicine physician and chief of Integrative Medicine with the Deployment Health Clinical Center, outlines some important distinctions between common mindfulness meditation techniques.

  People think time travel is impossible, but we actually do it all the time.

  Categories: Mindfulness, Resilience, PTSD, Resources, Psychological Health   |   Comments (2)