New Weapons Available to Fight Military Stress

May 28, 2009 - 8:04am
By Tom Temin
FederalNewsRadio

Wounded soldiers back from the battlegrounds rehabilitate at places like Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed. Now the military is taking steps to improve their care once they leave our area.

Q: The physical wounds are one thing but the military is really addressing something else, isn't it?

A: More and more focus is going to the soldiers' mental health. Military leaders are trying to correct the fact that suicides and divorces have been rising for recent veterans or those just back from combat. They are trying to remove the stigma that, unfortunately, has been associated with seeking help for post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A study done for the armed services last year, called Invisible Wounds of War, showed that PTSD can also affect careers. And a leading reason is many soldiers don't feel comfortable seeking treatment for PTSD.

Q: What is the military doing about it?

A: It has taken two recent steps. One is to create videos of high-ranking officers willing to discuss their struggles with stress disorder, in the hopes this will help make it safe for others. And two, they've created a web site, realwarriors.net, that contains resources soldiers and their families can browse for help. The .net is significant. By not housing the site at .mil, affected soldiers will be less reluctant to visit and spend time on the site. This joins a site called giveanhour.org, created by a Bethesda psychologist several years ago. It's a non-profit providing free mental health counseling to wounded warriors.

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