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Soldier's life stressful for families, Army mental health official says By
Will Bettmann The image of a soldier in full camouflage lying on a psychiatrist's couch may seem somewhat incongruous, but don't tell that to Dr. Thomas G. Hardaway II. He is the chief of the department of behavioral medicine at Fort Sam Houston, a U.S. Army base in Texas, where he has the unenviable job of overseeing the mental health of 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and their families. Hardaway was at Utah State University last week playing the organ in a performance of Handel's Messiah on campus, but he took a break from rehearsal Wednesday to meet with students from the USU chapter of Psi Chi, the psychology honors society. There are some particular sources of stress for soldiers and their families that he and his staff have to deal with, Hardaway told the group of around 20 students who came to hear him. He said the biggest issue is deployment, when one parent -- usually the father -- is sent away on assignment for months at a time. He said another major "stressor" in the military is the frequent moves soldiers and their families are required to make. One of Hardaway's areas of interest is child developement, and he noted the difficulty of frequent moves for children, especially those who may already have emotional problems. "You can imagine what that does to anyone who has academic issues, social issues, attention deficit disorder," he said. "It can take months to diagnose and begin to treat a child, and maybe by that time, they're getting ready to relocate again. Partly because of that, a lot of the kids in schools on military bases act out. We see a lot of suicide attempts, drugs, things like that." In a number of conferences and press releases over the past couple of years, the leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces have indicated that they are paying more attention to mental health issues. In one such press release, Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark Welsh III told his Gulf War story of holding the hand of a subordinate as the man listened on the phone to his wife giving birth to their first child in Utah. During the 1991 war, Welsh commanded the 4th Fighter Squadron, which deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "I took Ed down to the command post and sat down with him as he picked up the phone and he talked to his wife, Jill, who was in the middle of a really tough labor. For the next couple of hours I sat with Ed, part of the time holding one of his hands and feeling him squeeze it every time Jill went into another contraction," Welsh said, recalling the experience. "I watched the joy in his eyes when they'd laugh together on the phone, and I watched the pain cloud him over every time she screamed." Welsh went on to say that he was unprepared to deal with the mental and emotional impact of combat. "I knew lots about technology. I knew lots about dropping bombs and shooting guns and firing missiles. I knew lots about training people," he said. "I knew absolutely nothing about operational stress and how to deal with it. Zippo. Nobody told me anything about that before I took this job on." Hardaway said that the U.S. Army is looking at overhauling how it takes care of the mental health of its soldiers and their families. "Do we do enough to take care of our people? That's always the question," Hardaway said. "How much of the stress is just inherent in the work we do: there are long days, long absenses from your family, sometimes in very dangerous situations. More (health care) professionals might help, but the soldiers have to go on missions; they can't live in the counselor's office all the time." He said the leadership in the U.S. Army was aware of the importance of mental health. "The entire countries' defense is in the hands of 18- and 19-year-olds, who are under highly stressful conditions. We better take care of them," he said.
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