Cal State Long Beach, along with Cal State Dominguez Hills and the Veterans Administration Healthcare System hosted a virtual conference on May 14 to address issues veterans may face post-deployment.
“These three institutions offer expert knowledge and research, dedicated health and educational programs, and impressive resources for current and newly returning veterans,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander. “Our goal in this conference today is to highlight our best practices in the field of mental health.”
The conference was titled “Innovative Interventions: Mental Healthcare for Veterans and Families” and focused on tough challenges young veterans may face, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the stigma associated with the illness. The presentation was hosted by Veterans University, an organization with the goal of increasing transitional rehabilitation services for returning veterans. The first of many steps to come was to have the virtual conference nationwide in order to gain awareness and help veterans.
The conference featured a mediator, CSULB law professor Art Levine, and five behavioral health specialists, each explaining what type of program they were involved with in helping veterans and the successes they have had with their respective programs.
Levine said that stigmas or fears of experiencing career repercussions might prevent many PTSD sufferers from seeking treatment, and could mean the financial and psychological cost of the armed forces, the individual veterans, their families, and society in general could be extensive.
He said the army has already taken action and is increasing the screening of soldiers at the end of their tours, but that many soldiers and marines are still “slipping through the cracks.”
The five behavioral health specialists discussed the success and challenges in their programs with regard to PTSD and other mental health problems veterans and active military face.
“We have conducted three separate investigations about treatment engagement after one year deployment in Iraq,” said Francis Hamilton, a project coordinator at the Dartmouth Medical School’s Psychiatric Research Center. “From all of the people screened, only one third were seeking treatment.”
Hamilton says that the most important step for a veteran is the first step they take toward seeking treatment.
One type of treatment currently being offered to veterans and service members is battle mind training, which is used to mentally prepare the individual.
“Those who attended the pre-deployment training reported they were more prepared for what to expect during the deployment,” said Col. Joseph Pecko, PhD, a social work officer at the Army Medical Department Center and School. “They also reported fewer mental health problems.”
The topic of what effect families may have on a service member was also brought up.
“Often times, service members may be reluctant to seek help for themselves, but willing to come in for services if they believe it will benefit their spouse or children,” said Ursula Bowling, a clinical psychologist in the Family Mental Health Program at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center.
