Combat stress clinic offers variety of services

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06.12.2007

Courtesy Story

5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

SOUTHWEST ASIA - There are many stigmas in today's military. We've all heard them. We've all heard the jokes about 'stress cards' rumored to be handed out during basic training.

Some stigmas prevent people from getting the help they need out of fear of being stigmatized. But when it comes to mental health and well-being, there should be nothing standing in the way.

"The stigma is slowly going away," said Sgt. 1st Class John N. Valentine of the 85th Combat Operational Stress Control (CSC) Detachment out of Fort Hood, Texas.

"You'd be surprised how many people that see us, and we end up not needing to see them again," Valentine said, speaking with the experience of five deployments.

There are five Combat Operational Stress Control units in the Army that have the mission to take care of Soldier's mental health needs. Additionally, each brigade combat team has recently been authorized it's own mental health team.

Most Soldiers are probably not aware of the services that this unit provides. Some of their services include sleep management techniques, coping with deployment separation, battle fatigue, helping a Soldier in distress, tobacco cessation, women's group, anger management, communication skills improvement as well as traumatic event debriefings.

"We do good at prevention so that people don't get in trouble," said Sgt. Tracy Click, the instructor for the three-day fitness program, just one option for Soldiers who need help learning everything from sleep, hygiene, stress management, relaxation, and self assessment. "We teach them to be less angry," he said.

"None of this goes in your medical record," Click reassured Soldiers that there is no reason to fear that people will judge someone who seeks assistance.

"In Tal Afar I saw people who went out every day, went to the Syrian border, were shot at multiple times; but they were not prepared for what they saw," said Maj. Jess A. Calohan, referring to the bombing in Tal Afar in April. Calohan, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said he conducted eight traumatic management sessions to help Soldiers cope with what they saw.

"We do our best to normalize the situation, to reassure them they are not crazy, and to encourage them to talk it through with their buddies," Calohan said.

"It was mass chaos; they were watching people die in front of them and they felt helpless," he described the situation. In situations like this, it is important to have another member of the military to talk to who can relate to what you experienced.

Some Soldiers worry that talking to a trusted friend or civilian counselor would not be effective since it seems impossible for them to imagine the situation.

Calling home too much can cause Soldiers to worry too much about problems back home, said Maj. John H. Gourley, another psychiatric nurse practitioner. He said that he does more outreach to help Soldiers cope with issues back home and to cope with overcoming boredom so that people don't get in trouble.

Maj. Stacie M. Caswell, the commander of the 85th CSC, said her 42-person unit is spread out all over Multi-National Division-North area of operations to provide rapid reaction event counseling as well as continuous mental health support to Soldiers at most forward operating bases throughout the region. She is on her third deployment and can relate to a Soldier's state of mind when dealing with being in a combat zone.

With the vast sampling of assistance that Soldiers can receive from the CSC, there is no reason for them not to stop in and see a counselor if they feel they could use help working through something. Even if it is just to talk about issues at home or to learn new ways of dealing with stress or stopping smoking. There are highly qualified, highly trained professionals here to help with every aspect of your mental health and fitness.

For more information stop by your local Combat Stress Control office or call VOIP 243-0019/0042.

• Date Taken: 06.12.2007
• Date Posted: 06.12.2007 00:58
• Story ID: 10779
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)