Mental Health Interventions - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages 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 ...Download file to see next pagesRead More