Ptsd In The Military Essay

Health Challenge 1 Strategies Sangeetha Ramanuja

Strategy 1:A main problem that soldiers with PTSD try to cope with is the stigma that surrounds their illness. In the military, many people think that having PTSD is a form of weakness. This ideology is what hurts many soldiers. Their friends,colleagues, and families think that they are some sort of liability and that they are weak and useless. For captain Wayne Johnston(a military captain with ptsd), “the pain of dealing with his diagnosis – and the stigma that comes with it – is worse than any physical pain he’s ever suffered.” To deal with this issue there must be a massive reconstruction of
the mental health care system for the military. The first change to the system would be to create stable mental health awareness education programs for the military along with their regular training. Programs could also be offered to educate their families so that they would know how to help and support them when they come back from missions. These programs could help to reduce the stigma attached to mental health issues in the military. Master corporal Jonathan Woolvett states that “You got all these [soldiers] coming in and they don’t know how to deal with [PTSD].”To address Woolvetts statement, these programs could also help to educate soldiers more on how to cope with the pain that these mental health issues bring and where to get help. This strategy is rooted in sociological theory as education programs would help to shape the minds of society so that stigma is decreased. By decreasing the stigma we would be enabling more soldiers to get the help they from the mental health care professionals. The second change to the military health care system would be to make mandatory mental health check ups for all veterans. It seems that many soldiers are not getting the help they need due to there being long processes and waitlists for appointments. Corporal Malcolm Williams states that “ he was put on a waiting list and that’s why he wasn’t able to see a doctor.” Only after his wife called and threatened to sue was he given adequate care. To help people like Williams, the Canadian government should hire more mental health professionals that are specifically for veterans. With more professionals that could treat soldiers, there would be less wait times for appointments. Additionally, having strict check ups on a regular basis would help soldiers to get on the road to recovery and prevent relapses. Currently, soldiers have to resort to drastic measures to get help. If there were more mental health clinics for veterans that operated similar to walk in clinics, there would be a decrease in military suicides and an increase in the veterans’ quality of life. This addition to the mental health system is rooted in psychological theory because having more individual care for veterans could help them to figure out how to deal with their own personal triggers.

Strategy 2:
Soldiers with PTSD also deal with financial issues after coming back from missions.
Because of their illness, soldiers are discharged from their duties but have a hard time adjusting to civilian life because they have specific skill sets. They also get a lump sum of money after missions instead of a steady pension which can be gobbled up quickly and leave them in financial stress for the rest of their lives. Financial issues are not helping the state of minds of the veterans. Many are already depressed and facing other mental problems, and financial issues are just making them worse.

The first way to help with soldiers’ financial problems is to create better programs that retrain them for other jobs needed in society or jobs in non-combat roles within the military. Captain Wayne Johnson states that “most of these soldiers feel helpless and hopeless, and if they stick up their hand and ask for help, they risk being released from the Forces.” By retraining veterans for new jobs, we would be ensuring that they have a safety net to fall back on. Many soldiers are young and have families to feed. It is essential that they are having good lives after they risk their lives for Canada. This solution is based on sociology because it would change the structure of a unit in society and would be developing and creating change in the lives of
veterans.

The second way would be to reduce their financial problems is to create a stabilized regular pension instead of handing out large amounts of money. Wayne Johnson thinks that the old system where they had regular pensions gave veterans hope and that they could plan for their lives. But now young soldiers are “suddenly unemployed, with a mortgage, car payments, and a mental illness that may never dissipate entirely.”
He believes that “giving soldiers greater hope for the future and financial security in the form of ongoing payments could help mitigate suicides in the military.” By giving long term payments we can be assured that veterans are financially sound are not wasting it all right away. Corporal Malcolm Williams spent all his lump sum payment on drugs (over $200 000).Proper pensions would make sure events like these do not happen which would ultimately help with some of their stress and issues. This solution is rooted more in psychology because giving hope to the individual minds of the soldiers would improve their mental stability. If each soldier knew that they had a solid life waiting for them this would help their psyche.