An impossible ask . . . .

[SlickAg]

15:22 apparently so

(congratulations on the promotion, CPL Captain SlickAg)

I’m surprised he broke his cover there. Indy enlisted in the Belgian Army under the nom de guerre Henri Defense.

Such a great TV series. Sadly, no longer available on Amazon Prime.

 

[ABMD]

However, let me introduce you to the new hotness buzz phrase of 'resiliency.'

My last command was a joint command, and the Navy folks had to sit through Army Resiliency training each DWE for like an hour or 2. Not sure if anyone took it seriously other than the poor O3's leading the training.

 

[MGoBrew11]

I get the feeling some of us have wandered away from the original intent of this thread.....

Well, he even called it an “impossible ask”.

 

[nodropinufaka]

All that being said- the Navy mental health program is a joke and needs some attention.

The answer definitely isn’t in a 10 day resiliency course for NCOs.

It’s a tough problem to solve and it’s a finite resource.

Who gets priority? Combat vets? Deployed members? MST?

Only so many shrinks to go around and only so many PCPs to refer them

 

[Spekkio]

My last command was a joint command, and the Navy folks had to sit through Army Resiliency training each DWE for like an hour or 2. Not sure if anyone took it seriously other than the poor O3's leading the training.

More a commentary on the implication. See, if you're not resilient, that means there's something wrong with you. It's not that there's anything wrong with your work environment, leadership, etc... you need mental health services because you're not resilient. Therefore, the fix to this revolves around reprogramming your mindset and teaching you how to suck it up rather than attacking any of the external factors that are giving you grief. Another implication is that because the sailor is a millenial or gen-z, he/she is less mentally tough than the superior boomers and gen-x'ers that came before them.

I actually no-kidding saw a document that said not to give sailors too liberal of working hours on shore duty because it reduced resiliency when they go back to sea.

 

[Spekkio]

All that being said- the Navy mental health program is a joke and needs some attention.

The Navy needs a better screening policy. The entering assumption for military service is that the individual is a fit, healthy person. That should include a mental health evaluation. If working 60-80 hours a week is going to make you shoot yourself, this job isn't for you. If being given blunt feedback about subpar performance is going to make you shoot yourself, this job isn't for you. We don't generally don't take people into the military if they'll need chronic care for heart issues, lung issues, whatever, but somehow mental health is the exception.

However, where I will agree with you is that we unduly rely on the clergy for mental health services. I thankfully have never sought out mental health counseling in the Navy, but if I did a priest is the last motherfucker I want to talk to.

 

[nodropinufaka]

The Navy needs a better screening policy. The entering assumption for military service is that the individual is a fit, healthy person. That should include a mental health evaluation. If working 60-80 hours a week is going to make you shoot yourself, this job isn't for you. If being given blunt feedback about subpar performance is going to make you shoot yourself, this job isn't for you. We don't generally don't take people into the military if they'll need chronic care for heart issues, lung issues, whatever, but somehow mental health is the exception.

However, where I will agree with you is that we unduly rely on the clergy for mental health services. I thankfully have never sought out mental health counseling in the Navy, but if I did a priest is the last motherfucker I want to talk to.

Agree on all points.

There are some people who need legitimate help from deployments and trauma they see.

Its a messy situation and difficult to solve. And yea, last person I want to see is a priest. Shit I don't even like seeing Psychologists. I want a Psychiatrist that will give me some drugs.

 

[ABMD]

Agree on all points.

There are some people who need legitimate help from deployments and trauma they see.

Its a messy situation and difficult to solve. And yea, last person I want to see is a priest. Shit I don't even like seeing Psychologists. I want a Psychiatrist that will give me some drugs.

Sometimes, most times, drugs are not the answer and speaking to someone, actually talking through the issue, helps immensely.

 

[nodropinufaka]

Sometimes, most times, drugs are not the answer and speaking to someone, actually talking through the issue, helps immensely.

I guess each is different. Talking to someone didn't do anything for me. The whole experience was strange. Could have been a bad psychologist. But she made me do these weird exercises of closing my eyes and the whole thing just felt so weird.

A psychiatrist gave me a few pills to try and they greatly improved my life. Only issue is I don't think I can ever stop taking them.

 

[Spekkio]

Sometimes, most times, drugs are not the answer and speaking to someone, actually talking through the issue, helps immensely.

I agree that drugs aren't the answer. However, the point does remain that there's a triceratops poop level of red tape to see someone who is certified to make diagnoses IAW DSM-5 and prescribe treatment, and the creepy uncle 'chaps' isn't that guy.

 

[squorch2]

A psychiatrist gave me a few pills to try and they greatly improved my life. Only issue is I don't think I can ever stop taking them.

PTSD changes the brain.

The meds help bring it back to its pre-trauma state.

 

[AIRMMCPORET]

About five years ago (maybe more) the Navy Reserve started contracting head shrinks to travel to the NOSCs to conduct a mental health resiliency check over a drill weekend (I think it was once a year). Basically anyone who wanted to could chat one on one with one of the shrinks and everyone was encouraged to, even if they didn't have any issues (helps get a better cross section of the population). Whatever was said, one on one, was confidential inasmuch as not being attributed to the person, but would be fair game for mention in the out brief to the skipper.

I wondered about the bang of the buck of these things but the people problems that these guys found might surprise you. Apparently we had one guy who was living out of his car (unemployed other than being a reservist) and we were able to get the person some assistance, in a roundabout way without directly violating that confidentiality thing. These mental health professionals also brought with them information for all kinds of different programs (a lot of it Military OneSource, unsurprisingly) and they'd directly connect individual sailors with points of contact, with the person's consent of course.


But a ten day long NCO course...? Good heavens.

I remember that, glad it helped someone.

 

[scoolbubba]

At least the DOD isn't any worse than the FAA when it comes to mental health. I mean, the FAA's fucking terrible, but the DODs not worse.

 

[nodropinufaka]

PTSD changes the brain.

The meds help bring it back to its pre-trauma state.

I worried for a long time it was the burn pits there. My friend in my unit got brain cancer and died at 36.

But after doing research it seems unlikely that was the culprit and rather trauma from Iraq (I know everyone in the last thread thought I was a POG hanging out ear plugs- lol. I def wasn’t).

Either way. Signed up for the burn pit registry.

 

[nodropinufaka]

At least the DOD isn't any worse than the FAA when it comes to mental health. I mean, the FAA's fucking terrible, but the DODs not worse.

Ya but the DOD controls your access to health care.

Isnt FAA civilian health care where you can go out in town with your insurance?

Is FAA GS civil service? Or contractors?