- Hey, everybody. Happy Thursday.
Today is another episode of Coffee and a Chat with Kati.
Oh yeah.
But first I want to thank today's sponsor, BetterHelp.
They provide anyone facing life's challenges with easy,
discreet and affordable access to professional counseling
from a licensed therapist, such as myself.
Today's topic is all about
mental health in our armed forces.
And the question that I received says,
"Hey, Kati.
"Mental health professionals often give
"great support to most people,
"but I find that support always doesn't translate well
"to one particular population: the military and veterans.
"Under extreme conditions,
"active duty members have a hard time managing
"their mental health and their jobs.
"Too often, like in the case of former sailor Peter Mims,
"this leads to a sort of mental breakdown.
"Reaching out for help falls on deaf ears,
"while the military keeps demanding more.
"What I want to know is
"how do we help this special population?
"How do we even help people who literally have no control
"over their own lives?"
I thought this was a great question and I haven't talked
much about mental health in our armed forces at all.
And so I did a ton of research,
I'm open to all of your thoughts about in the comments.
But first, before I even get into this,
I want to thank each and every member of our armed forces
for giving of their time and possibly their lives
in order to keep us all safe and free.
It's because of their sacrifices that I'm able to have a
channel such as this and walk around safely in my community.
And honestly, thank you just never seems like enough,
but know that I am extremely grateful
for all your sacrifices.
Now let's jump into that question.
If you want to read the full article
that was released from the Military Times,
I'll link it in the description,
but just for the sake of this video,
the short synopsis of what happened to Peter
is that he was on a ship where all of the members,
all of his colleagues,
reported that it was a very demoralizing environment.
Their superior officer made them work extremely long hours,
was horribly, emotionally abusive and rude to them,
leaving them all feeling terrible.
After being deployed for a while,
Peter began to display some signs of paranoia.
He talked to other sailors saying
he could shoot fireballs out of his hands
and, honestly, just talking a lot of nonsense.
Other friends of his on the ship talked about how he was
going through some stress with family,
that his wife has talked about divorce
and he was just having a really hard time.
And after all of this is going on,
for week after week after week with Peter, he disappears.
At first, it was just that Peter didn't show up
for his regular check-in.
And then people went looking for him
and wondered where he was.
And after a week-long search,
he was found on the boat itself,
in the engine room in a part where people
normally couldn't get to.
It was extremely hot,
and he was covered in his own urine and feces.
And at this point, he's then treated like a criminal.
They put him in cuffs, they pulled him off the ship.
And he will now be discharged.
And instead of being medically discharged,
as he clearly needs, then that would guarantee that
he would get the help that ne needs from the Navy.
Instead, he's being administratively separated.
And what that means for those of us who
aren't in the armed services,
is that he'll get no help from them.
They're essentially severing all ties.
So now he has no job, no support and no health care.
So here we have someone who has
risked their life to keep us safe.
And as a result of all the pressures of doing so
has had a mental breakdown.
And we aren't helping him.
And the even more infuriating issue
is that this isn't an isolated incident.
When I was talking to other members of our community
who are in the armed forces,
they told me that not only are they subjected
to traumatizing situation when they're actually at war,
but the thing that no one talks about is the
high rate of assault amongst service members.
And when something happens to us like that,
when we are traumatized,
we're left with no help for the
debilitating PTSD that can follow.
The entire mental health system
within our armed forces is lacking.
And I would even argue, after doing research for this,
that it's completely broken.
I consulted with three different members of the armed forces
as well as with a former Navy
sexual assault victim advocate.
And here's what I found out about
their mental health care system.
First, is that you're encouraged to
seek mental health help and support,
but if you are diagnosed with PTSD,
which is one of the most common diagnoses,
and any of those triggers that are associated with your PTSD
have anything to do with the use of weapons,
or loud noises, whatever those triggers are,
if they think it could affect you in battle,
then you may not be able to ever carry a weapon again.
And so, in essence, you might not be able to do your job.
They may take that away from you,
meaning that then by getting help,
you could potentially lose your job
and your ability to serve your country.
And I say the terms "may" and "potentially" because this all
depends on what your job within the armed forces is,
which branch you're part of, and where your PTSD comes from.
After talking to all these different people,
I learned that each branch has
different rules and regulations.
And the second thing I learned is that
they do have resources available,
like the DOD self help line,
and everyone's supposed to have on them,
it's like a card they get,
they're supposed to carry at all times,
and they all have some version of SHARP Representatives.
The acronyms change depending on
which arm of the military you're in.
But these are the people who you report things to.
You report if you've been raped, assaulted or harassed.
But as for basic mental health care,
you're only psychologically assessed
for duty when you're getting your
initial background check and security clearance.
Your superior officer can request
another one to be completed
if they feel your mental health is deteriorating in any way.
But if we consider Peter Mims,
he was displaying all sorts of signs prior to his breakdown
and he received no assistance.
His superior officer did not request
that he get another psychological assessment,
even though other members on the ship had reported
him saying he could shoot fireballs out of his hands
and he felt like people were watching him
and out to get him.
There were so many signs, yet no one cared to help him.
And this also goes for those
who have been sexually assaulted.
When I was doing all of this research,
I found out that the sexual assault rates
within our armed forces are staggering.
And it happens all the time and
people don't know how to speak up
and even when they do, things are often not done.
To give you an idea of how prevalent sexual assault is,
the advocate that I spoke with shared
that during her time in the Navy,
15 to 20 formal reports of sexual assault
were reported each and every month.
This doesn't account for all the harassment
and assault that goes unreported
because many people do, even outside of the armed forces,
we know often people don't report when things happen.
And they also believe the accounts from males
are seriously under reported.
So on to more positive things.
What type of treatment can we get if we're struggling?
Sadly, when it comes to the VA, the waits are long.
And the worry of getting a diagnosis that will end a career
keep people from reporting harmful events
and getting the help that they so desperately need.
And while each VA is gonna be different,
I heard from many of you that
you've moved and they've been better,
but there just aren't enough
mental health professionals to go around.
So often, waits are long, treatments are short,
and many struggle to even say how they're really feeling
for fear that they'll lose their jobs.
Unfortunately, I don't have a real answer for this issue.
But what I think is important
is that we talk about it.
Make people aware of it and push for
better treatment of our troops.
They give their all so that we can be safe.
The least we can do is care for them
when they finally return home.
We as a country give so much money
each and every year to the military,
and I honestly think that we should be more specific
about how that money is spent.
We need to do better.
Because of all the issues with
accessibility and confidentiality,
I'm really excited that I was able to partner
with BetterHelp on this video
to bring you a more accessible,
not to mention, more affordable, therapy option.
What BetterHelp is, if you don't know,
'cause I've partnered with them before,
is it's an app that helps connect you with a therapist
or counselor at an affordable weekly rate.
And once you fill out their short intake questionnaire,
you're connected with a counselor within 24 hours.
You are then able to receive professional counseling
using your computer, tablet, mobile phone, whatever,
anytime you need, anywhere you are.
Since all of the service members I spoke with
shared their fear of having people around them
know that they were seeking therapy
or that it was too expensive to seek it outside of the VA,
BetterHelp is a great way to get confidential
and affordable therapy no matter
where you happen to be stationed.
BetterHelp has helped over 600,000 people,
many of whom are members of our community,
and I think it's a great resource.
So click the link in the description
and get started today,
because you deserve to get the help you need
when you need it most.
And if you're open to it,
please leave your story in the comments.
Are you part of our armed forces?
Have you utilized their mental health care system?
Please share, because as always,
with your experience and my expertise,
we will continue working towards
a healthy mind and a healthy body.
And I will see you next time. Bye.