Photo By Master Sgt. Patrick Evenson | U.S. Army Sgt. Arielle Vann, a behavioral health specialist, assigned to the 378th...... read more read more
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It’s crazy how much a simple question like, “how are you doing”, makes a difference. Maybe it's the eye-contact, the posture of another directed at us, or the fact that we get so wrapped up in our daily tasks and responsibility of deployment, that we never stop and take the time to ask ourselves that very question.
According to a 2020 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness in the form of mental, behavioral or emotional disorders. The study also showed that suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 34.
But this article isn’t about seemingly scary statistics like that. It is about being human. It’s about the idea that like any other muscle, the mind must be exercised and cared for to prevent more serious issues, like those stated above. This is especially true for U.S. service members deployed to places like Prince Sultan Air Base in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who oftentimes find themselves in stressful situations.
One of the most important goals in the education of mental health is to reduce the negative attitudes and misconceptions that surround mental health.
Ignoring mental health due to negative perceptions can cause isolation and can intensify symptoms. It’s no different than physical activities. Stretching is seen as preventative self-care. It keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and that flexibility is needed to maintain a range of motion in the joints to preempt injury.
There is no stigmatization when it comes to stretching, and what the soldiers and airmen of the 378th Mental Health Clinic are trying to do is create a similar normalization when it comes to preventive practices for individual mental health.
“The overall mission of what we're doing here is providing mental health, outreach and prevention services to our airmen and soldiers,” said Army Capt. Timothy Fillmore, a social worker assigned to the 378th Expeditionary Medical Squadron. “If our airmen and soldiers can’t function well at the individual level how can they be part of the team and support the mission?”
Sleep, anxiety and anger issues is what the team has seen thus far during their out-and-abouts around PSAB. These are the little things in life that people deal with everyday, but these are the roots of many more severe mental health issues.
“If you’re not getting good sleep, you could open yourself up to being more susceptible to anxiety and depressive symptoms and you could find yourself snowballing” said Fillmore. “So we’re trying to address that as much as we can before the snowball starts really rolling down the hill.”
If service members understand how to productively deal with these life stressors as they happen, then they can be an active participant in being aware and exercising their mental health.
“It’s like when you get scratched,” explained Army Sgt. Arielle Vann, a behavioral health specialist with the 378th EMDS. “You want to look at it and mend it. It's the same with mental health. As soon as you notice some type of difference, you should come to us and say, ‘hey, you know, it's not very big, but this is what I'm noticing in myself. How do I go about helping myself so it doesn't get worse.’”
Although they do help out with seeing service members at the base mental health clinic, the team’s main focus is outreach and prevention programs, such as classes on stress management, effective communication, mindfulness techniques, and more.
“The purpose of these classes is to provide service members with the tools to build their own resiliency,” said Army Sgt. Elizabeth Parry, prevention non-commissioned officer in charge for the 378th EMDS. “They have those tips and tricks that they can use to help themselves before they get to the point where they have to come [to the mental health clinic].”
One of the tools to practice resiliency that Vann mentions is the Act, Think, Feel Model.
When you get anxious, tense or stressed, try these three tips:
Act -- Focus first on a confident, relaxed, open stance.
Think –Tune into your thoughts, which will follow your posture.
Feel – Experience the anxiety and tension receding.
“Any time you are worried or under pressure, a calm, relaxed body really does create a calm, relaxed mind,” said Vann.
For Parry, her involvement in mental health is personal. Having lost friends to suicide in the past, she wanted to enter a field where she could do her part in letting people know that it's okay to not be okay. Or as Fillmore puts it, “normalize being human.”
Everyone has bad days and problems that they need a little extra help to get through. Resiliency is hard to do alone, which is why in addition to the Mental Health team, people have their peers that they can look to.
Peers like those in Team Phoenix, the peer-to-peer grass roots program that acts as a conduit between service members and the installation’s helping agencies like Equal Opportunity, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, the Chapel, and Mental Health.
They aren’t anybody special, in fact they are merely peers in the workplace with the yellow and blue tabs on their shoulder, letting others know that they have an ear to lend, and time to give for their fellow brother or sister in arms. And if need be, direct them to the agency that can better meet their needs.
But oftentimes, just a person to listen and ask, “how are you doing”, can be the connection someone needs.
“Having that support will definitely help us as far as normalizing those feelings and getting that support at the ground level,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Alyssa Solis, a mental health technician for the 378th EMDS. “When they feel like talking about something, they have that peer support, or that outlet for getting out on base and doing activities; helping those stressors and those symptoms that they're having.”
Fitness does not only include the physical body, but the social, spiritual, and mental wellness of members here at PSAB. The team at the Mental Health Clinic are just another tool individuals can use to ensure all their needs are met to effectively combat any challenges that arise.
When the rhythm of life starts to feel out of whack, it’s okay to stop and ask yourself ‘how am I doing?’.
| Date Taken: | 08.20.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2022 12:51 |
| Story ID: | 427717 |
| Location: | PRINCE SULTAN AIR BASE, SA |
| Web Views: | 161 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Normalize being human: Calisthenics for the mind, by MSgt Patrick Evenson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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