The Growing Impact of Mental Health on Soldiers and the Army - Essay Example

"The Growing Impact of Mental Health on Soldiers and the Army" is a perfect example of a paper on the disorder.PSTD emerged during WWI whereby it ended up being a rampant predicament among soldiers and other army personnel, hence turning to be an issue of much concern (Walker, 2010). To date, troops deployed to varied regions globally have been victims of this problem such as in Afghanistan and Iraq while on a mission to fight terror. This has put them under stress and most consequences become mental health complication. As much as PTSD is generally a rare disorder, concern over it has grown over years. Other problems that these troops face include drug abuse, depression, anxiety, and self-harm (Walker, 2010). All this affects their respective mental health status in one way or another. The media has also exposed a variety of incidences that relate to the deterioration of the mental health of some armed forces personnel after their deployment, especially in war-torn regions. Mainly, war to these soldiers usually results in psychiatric casualties due to traumatic exposures they normally undergo to the extent of developing somatic symptoms that may become chronic and eventually resistant to treatment (Walker, 2010).

Thesis Statement:

            Due to traumatic and horrific situations, which deployed military personnel encounter on a daily basis while undertaking their missions poses a negative impact on their mental health, which currently shows an increasing trend.

1. Body Paragraph #1

Topic sentence: Perceptions towards mental health have influenced attitudes towards military personnel’s treatment; hence, stigmatization due to this condition has become quite rampant among them.

Argument/example 1:

            Many soldiers due to the fear of seen or perceived inferior by their peers shy away from seeking their respective medication. Hence, studies so far conducted contend approximately 50% of soldiers who experience mental problems end up stagnating in their careers (Gibbs, Rae Olmsted, Brown & Clinton-Sherrod, 2011). Since most of their leaders fail to support them or consider them to be weak in specific positions.

Argument/ Example 2: 

            Any deployed soldiers face a risk of coming back with mental health problems including PTSD. This is because some watch as their friends die due to varied forms of injustices that characterize war zones.

1. Body Paragraph #2

Topic Sentence: A range of factors impedes the participation of affected military personnel in seeking appropriate treatment.

Argument/example 1:

            A range of factors impedes the participation of affected military personnel in treatment. Such factors can be, either individual or organizational and they act as barriers to assessing proper medication. Marital status and pay grade are factors that affect access to medical assistance by affected soldiers (Witkiewitz, & Estrada, 2011).

Argument/example 2:

            The rate of mental health problems among military personnel returning from Afghanistan is around 30% (Witkiewitz & Estrada, 2011). Among this group of affected soldiers, some meet the criteria for depression whereas others meet criteria for anxiety disorder and others for PTSD (Witkiewitz & Estrada, 2011).

• Body Paragraph #3

Topic Sentence:  It is necessary to come up with possible solutions to this mental health problem among soldiers because it will result in adverse effects on them, their jobs hence the nation at large.

Argument/example 1:

            One possible solution is the use of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy (ESB) (Wilk, West, Duffy, Herrell Rae & Hoge, 2013). One research carried out a survey on the majority of army behavioral health providers in 543 health facilities (Wilk, West, Duffy, Herrell, Rae & Hoge, 2013).

Argument/example 2:

            Selective prevention, primary and tertiary care are possible solutions to this mental health crisis amongst military personnel. Selective prevention involves targeting mental health promotion to individuals who exhibit signs of mental instability (Witkiewitz, & Estrada, 2011). These prevention programs target symptoms, depression, as well as anxiety among those who are returning from deployment.

Conclusion

Much about what soldiers face and the efforts they have to put in order to adjust to the demands of the war zones is still unknown. It is therefore necessary respective authorities and civilians devise appropriate measures meant to ease soldiers’ trauma that they encounter on daily basis. This way, civilians will prepare for their arrival from deployment and encourage any affected soldier to visit medical health care facilities in order to acquire treatment.  Consequently, this topic is essential to not only respective authorities but also civilians in understanding that mental problems can happen to anyone. Hence, they will intervene in avoiding causing stigmatization besides prompting numerous soldiers to feel encouraged to seek medical help.

 

 

 

 

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