Mental Health Interventions - Research Paper Example

? Mental health interventions al Affiliation: Military men are more prone to develop mental disorders due to their tough schedule, less social life, low emotional support and harsh environment of military centers. High level of depression, anxiety, emotional distress, suicidal thoughts, drug abuse and drug dependence have been reported in military professionals often. These mental disorders call for some immediate community level mental health interventions like campaigns for the assessment of depression, emotional and behavioral illness, psychotherapy and promotional strategies development at community level to cope with the stress and its related conditions. Mental Health Interventions Mental health is defined as behavioral, emotional and psychological well-being of a person. Mental health is important for all people, but when it comes for military men, it is inevitable for them to be mentally fit to conduct their responsibilities. Trauma, drug dependence, emotional stress due to lack of family life, warfare, lack of enjoyment and stressful life (mental health problems, n.d.) are some of the factors that make military personnel more prone to develop mental illnesses which majorly include drug dependence, neurotic illness like anxiety and depression (Iversen et al., 2009), post traumatic stress, thought disorders, and behavioral illnesses. 10% of the military men of the United States, have been showing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (Smith, Rayan, Wingard, Slymen, Sallis, & Silverstein, 2008). Significant relation was found between the employment in the army and post-traumatic stress disorder (Baker, Nash, Litz, Geyer, Risbrough, Nievergelt, O'Connor, Larson, Schork, Vasterling, Hammer, & Webb-Murphy, 2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder develops in people returning after a long warship. Mental distress after returning home from a long period of war is not only related to short term effect on a person’s mental health, but if not treated, it may culminate into a permanent psychiatric illness. Assessment for the need of psychotherapy should be done at a community level, so that, cases of post trauma stress disorder can be picked earlier and treated likewise. For the prevention of post-trauma stress disorder, it is necessary to develop skills of stress coping on a community level; it will not only act as a mental health intervention for the military, but also for civilians. Gadermann et al, in a scholarly article, have reported a significant relation of depression with employment in the military department of the state (2012). Depression is found consistent with the decline in professional efficacy, so interventions are inevitable to eliminate depression from the military troops. Social isolation and environment of war has played a greater role in the promotion of depression among military men; consequently resulting in social malfunction. (Harding S, 2011). Severity of depression should be recognized owing to the increased need for recurrent mental health assessment of military men. The evaluation of mental health should be done through standardized tools, designed for the estimation of depression and other related psychological distresses. Psychotherapeutic interventions are necessary for prevention and early detection of depression among soldiers. Need for community based interventions for the promotion of mental health increases day by day. The main needs of the time include mental health promoting environment in military setup, workshops to satisfy their spiritual needs, psychological support to soldiers, if any soldier is found stressed out psychotherapy should be done and factors responsible for the stress should be eliminated. Secondary to depression, many soldiers end up in alcohol addiction that exponentially deteriorates the mental and social health. The rate of drug abuse has been found to be three times higher in military men during 2005-2008 (Interventions for soldiers and Veterans, n.d). Besides a burden on military economy, drug dependence is significantly related to anxiety and mood disorders (Compton, Thomas, Stinson, & Grant, 2007). Drug dependence and drug abuse makes military men more vulnerable to engage in professional conflicts and promote an ignorant behavior of military men towards their duties. To mitigate the risks of behavioral and professional incompetence, community based lectures should be arranged as an intervention to reduce the drug dependency rate and to make the soldiers aware of the serious consequences of drug over use. Such interventions directly favor the soldiers and the state (Drug use, n.d).Strict drug control system is inevitable in military community as per the nature and responsibilities of their job. Community based spiritual education and lectures related to physical and mental well-being will also be a useful intervention to reduce drug abuse in a military setting. Financial crises, emotional disturbances and stressful environment of war generates suicidal thoughts in the soldiers. The suicide rate among soldiers is on rise since 2002 (Insel, 2010), yet this alarming situation is not coped up by the government sufficiently. The increasing suicidal rate calls for intense concentration on improvement of the situation and mental health interventions based on a community level respond to such grave situations better (Kaplan, Huguet, McFarland, &Newsom, 2007). Periodic Community level spiritual lectures can keep morale of military men high. Provide psychological training to groups of military men to cope up with the difficult situations. Therapy should be targeted to make the environment of military centers suitable for promotion of mental health. Individual as well as community based intervention is required to cut down the rate of suicides among soldiers. Soldiers should not be kept in the military environment for a very long time; they should be released in between, so that they can also enjoy their social life since lack of social life is also a key factor to promote suicidal thoughts. Alcohol abuse should be discouraged in the society and community level awareness programs should be initiated to make soldiers realize the threats of alcohol consumption and its strong relationship with suicidal thoughts (Crawford, Sharpe, Rutter, & Weaver, 2009). The need for community based intervention is largely due to the fact that about 40% of the military men, suffering from psychological issues, do not go for help and the situation worsens with the passing time. Mental health interventions for rehabilitation should base on a community level because war and the military are the issues of a community. Rehabilitation programs should run in a community to provide appropriate solution of losses to the soldiers (Eide, 2010). Moreover, tests should be done at a community level for the assessment of depression and other mental, emotional and behavioral disturbances in order to find the sufferers in their early stage. Psychologists and psychiatrists should be available in the community for rapid diagnosis and treatment. With the implementation of mass media, information about the psychotherapy should be spread. Community based behavior and cognitive therapy is needed as a mental health intervention for the military men to make them learn how to cope with the stress and difficult situation. Above all, emotional support to the military men may play a greater role as a mental health intervention. Through community level mental health interventions, mental state of military men can be made better and fruitful. References: Leaders Guide – Mental health problem - Home. (n.d.). Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS). Retrieved October 2, 2012, from http://www.usmc-mccs.org/leadersguide/SubstanceUse/Drug/index.htm. Iversen, A. C., Staden, L. V., Hughes, J. H., Browne, T., Hull, L., Hall, J., Greenberg, N., Rona, R. J., Hotopf, M., Wessely, S., and Fear, N. T. (2009). The prevalence of common mental disorders and PTSD in the UK military: using data from a clinical interview-based study. BMC Psychiatry, 9(65). Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/9/68/. Gadermann, A. M., Engel, C. C., Naifeh, J. A., Nock, M. K., Petukhova, M., Santiago, P. N., Wu, B., Zaslavsky, A. M., and Kessler, R. C. (2012). Prevalence of DSM-IV major depression among U.S. military personnel: meta-analysis and simulation. Military Medicine, 177(8), 47-59. Harding, S. (2011). War and its effects. In Heller, R. N., &Gitterman, H (Eds). Mental Health And Social Problems (86-109).Madison Avenue: New York. Email. (n.d.). Interventions for Soldiers and Veterans | Intervention Help California. Intervention Help California | California Drug Intervention Help. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from http://www.interventionhelpcalifornia.com/interventionists/interventions-for-soldiers-and-veterans/ Compton, W. M.,Thomas, Y. F., Stinson, F. S., and Grant, B. F. (2007). Prevalence, Correlates, Disability, and Comorbidity of DSM-IV Drug Abuse and Dependence in the United States.Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(5), 566-576. Leaders Guide - Drug Use - Home. (n.d.). Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS). Retrieved October 2, 2012, from http://www.usmc-mccs.org/leadersguide/SubstanceUse/Drug/index.htm. Insel, T. (2010). NIMH. Reducing Suicide in the Military. NIMH · Home. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2010/reducing-suicide-in-the-military.shtml. Kaplan, M., Huguet, N., McFarland, B., & Newsom, J. (2007). Suicide among male veterans: a prospective population-based study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61(7), 619-624. Crawford, M. J., Sharpe, D., Rutter, D., and Weaver, T. (2009).Prevention of suicidal behavior among army personnel: a qualitative study. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 155(3), 203-207. Smith, T., Ryan, M., Wingard, D., Slymen, D., Sallis, J., Kritz-Silverstein, D., et al. (2008). New onset and persistent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder self reported after deployment and combat exposures: prospective population based US military cohort study. BMJ, 336(7640), 366-371. Baker, D. G., Nash, W. P., Litz, B. T., Geyer,M. A., Risbrough, V. B., Nievergelt, C. M., O'Connor, D. T., Larson, G. E., Schork, N. J., Vasterling, J. J., Hammer, P. S., and Webb-Murphy, J. A. (2012). Predictors of risk and resilience for posttraumatic stress disorder among ground combat Marines: methods of the Marine Resiliency Study. Preventing Chronic Diseases,9. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/11_0134.htm. Eide, A. H. (2010). Community-based rehabilitation in post-conflict and emergency situations. In Martz, E. Trauma Rehabilitation After War and Conflict: Community and Individual Perspectives (97-110). New York: Springer. Read More