View Homework Help - parenting_162 from FAS 10739 at Arizona State University. 58. Many military families have psychological support when A. they live far from military bases. B. …
Sep 17, 2019 · Star Behavioral Health’s monthly survey of its patients shows about 35.8% are veterans, 32.5% are family members and 31.7% are military personnel. The top five issues for military personnel and veterans are marital/relationship issues, …
The Psychological Needs of U.S. Military Service Members and Their Families: A Preliminary Report American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Military Deployment Services for Youth, Families and Service Members February 2007 Respectfully submitted by: Shannon J. Johnson, Chair Michelle D. Sherman, Co-Chair Jeanne S. Hoffman
Reuters. The US is sending 3,500 troops to the Middle East, meaning many military families have to part with their loved ones. Deployment brings new …
Special training for behavioral health professionals and access to those specialists are two ways military, higher education and behavioral health providers are working together to address behavioral health issues facing active duty military, veterans and their families. (Photo courtesy Department of Defense)
In 2018, the Department of Defense’s Quarterly Suicide Report showed that 325 active duty, 135 National Guard and 81 Reserve personnel died by suicide.
The military has instituted a policy that requires service members to complete a questionnaire at several points in the deployment cycle in order to improve identification of personnel who are potentially in need of behavioral health care. The questionnaires are the Pre-Deployment Health Assessment (PHA), administered shortly before deployment, the PDHA, administered shortly before the service member returns home from a deployment, and the PDHRA, administered approximately 180 days following the service member’s return from deployment. The result of these efforts is increased awareness of the potential impact of deployment and combat on mental health. Unfortunately, the identification of potential problems does not necessarily lead to needed treatment. A recent GAO report concluded that only about 22% of those who screened positive for PTSD actually received a referral to treatment. Similar issues occur regarding broader mental health concerns. Hoge et al. (2006) found that about 23% of the OIF veterans and only about 18% of the OEF veterans who screened positive for mental health concerns were actually referred for treatment.
6.1 Budgetary resources within DoD need to be allocated to address problems such as the understaffing of psychologist billets, unmet clinical needs of service members and their families, and deficits in research bearing on the mental health needs of war-fighters, family members, and military psychologists.
A growing area of research has focused on posttraumatic growth (PTG), a phenomenon in which positive outcomes occur among survivors of a wide range of traumatic experiences, such as car accidents, fires, sexual abuse/assault, military combat, and being held as a refugee (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Posttraumatic growth among trauma survivors has included improved relationships, renewed hope for life, an improved appreciation of life, an enhanced sense of personal strength, and spiritual development (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 1998). Although no published reports on PTG for the OIF/OEF war were identified by the Task Force, it is expected and hoped that our military service personnel will also experience such positive outcomes.
While most of these resources have not yet been tailored to specific military populations , it would be easy for individual psychologists or groups to amend and modify them for a military population experiencing deployment-related mental health problems. Examples of key APA resources include:
One study of 130 US military spouses (68 spouses of non-deployed servicemen and 62 spouses of servicemen deployed to a combat zone) took a close look at stress.
In one UK study, wives of deployed military members were found to have more than double the chance of experiencing depression than women in the general population.
Parents report their kids throw more tantrums when their spouse is deployed.
Deployment can have lasting impacts on toddlers, children, and teens, psychologists found.
Fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are all feelings children commonly experience, research shows.
Shared routines, rituals and set rules help keep members feeling stable and grounded.