By Darlene Brown-Williams, PhD, Assistant Commissioner for Whole Health & Community Resilience
As part of DVS’ initiatives to combat stigma surrounding mental health, DVS recently held a film screening and panel discussion, “Eliminating the Stigma of Mental Illness.” The event included a free screening of A&E Network’s film Call Me Crazy, showing two of the five stories that depicted how individuals with mental illnesses thrive through powerful relationships. These stories contained characters experiencing schizophrenia and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of Military Sexual Trauma (MST).
NYC Councilman I. Daneek Miller kicked off the event by underscoring the importance of addressing mental health concerns in the community. He discussed the barriers to seeking mental health treatment due to the stigma associated with mental illness and thanked the NYC Department of Veterans Services for bringing this important conversation to Southeast Queens.
The screening was followed by a panel moderated by Dr. Aletha Maybank. The panel consisted of medical and mental health professionals Sharran Chambers-Murphy, Dr. Claire Green-Forde, and Annette Tucker Osborne, COL (Ret). Through conversations with community leaders such as the panelists and the hundreds of community members that attended the screening, DVS is leading the way in changing the conversation around mental health, and moving the front lines of healing from the clinic to the community.
LONGER FIGHTS, NEW WOUNDS
To effectively end the stigma surrounding mental illness, it’s important to consider the background around why so many service members struggle with mental illness. Thanks to tremendous advances in battlefield medicine, service members are increasingly surviving injuries that would have been catastrophic decades ago. According to a 2017 study done by the Congressional Research Service, only about 22% of OEF casualties and 20% of OIF deaths were the result of wounds, illnesses, or injuries.
On the surface, these statistics seem wonderful: though the overall casualties of war are greater, fewer soldiers are dying from health-related injuries. However, a closer look at the implications tells a more complex story. While it is true that soldiers are surviving previously fatal diseases and injuries, they are also then able to remain in theaters of war for longer periods of time than ever before. And longer exposure to threat of war comes along with serious potential consequences.
First let us consider the statistics on combat exposure. In World War II, the average service member was exposed to combat on the front lines of fighting for approximately 40 days. As a result of increased mobility introduced by the helicopter, troops in Vietnam were exposed to combat for over 250 days.
For today’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where there are no defined front lines and every day poses a threat, the average service member, who may deploy for two, three, four or more tours of duty, experiences upwards of 500 to 1000 days of combat exposure. With so many more days experiencing threat, fear, and danger, the psychological toll of combat has reached levels of intensity that have never been seen before. As DVS Commissioner Loree Sutton has remarked, “Never before have so few shouldered the burden on behalf of so many for so long.”
ENDING THE MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA
While the health industry has done much to address the physical consequences of such a protracted war — like focusing on chronic health conditions — much remains to be done regarding the mental consequences. A recent study of nearly 60,000 veterans revealed that 10.9% of veterans experience frequent mental distress (defined as 14 or more mentally unhealthy days in the previous month). That same study revealed 16.1% of veterans have a depressive disorder.
With such a significant percent of the population battling mental illness, it is long past time to remove the stigma associated with mental health. DVS endeavors to end the stigma of mental illness, as evidenced by its Whole Health and Community Resilience line of action. DVS connects veterans and their families to mental health services through the VetsThriveNYC Core4 Whole Health Model™. DVS uses Core4 to shift the conversation surrounding mental health by focusing on culture, connection, community, and clinical treatment.
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Text ‘WELL” to 65173
Call 1–888-NYC-WELL
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