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Ironically, soldiers have always turned to each other for this purpose - in Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion: VFW in the USA; the Old Comrades Association of the 48th Highlanders: a trusted ear to listen, a strong shoulder to lean on ... an understanding friend.
Perhaps it‘s flattering/gratifying that the "experts" are finally recognising something that soliders have known all along - "... you had to be there ...".
"Troops should discuss feelings, officer says"
Tom Blackwell
National Post
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Discussing the difficulties of combat with each other would help troops reduce stress, a report says.
Soldiers should be encouraged to put aside their macho, stoic natures and talk to each other about traumatic experiences on peacekeeping and other dangerous missions, urges a new study co-authored by a senior Canadian army officer.
One expert says the proposal may signal a cultural shift in an organization that once shrugged off complaints of trauma.
As soldiers return from Canada‘s first offensive military action in half a century, the paper suggests servicemen start treating the potentially devastating effects of combat stress simply by discussing their feelings and observations.
This emotional defusing can take place in the field, well before they have access to psychologists and other professional services, the paper said.
While saying more research is needed, one of the authors suggests it may lessen the chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, the long-term condition that some experts have blamed for a recent string of murder-suicides at a U.S. army base.
"We should encourage people to talk about things instead of repressing the war experience," said Major Joel Fillion, a co-author and mental health nurse.
"The disclosure of emotions seems to be beneficial."
He stressed he was speaking for himself, not the Department of National Defence. The paper, also not official defence policy, appeared in the U.S.-based Journal of Psychosocial Nursing.
The idea of talking out the swirl of emotions brought on by the horrifying experiences soldiers face in places such as Rwanda, Bosnia and Afghanistan may seem like common sense, but the article notes military culture often conditions soldiers to be passionless and to avoid discussing their feelings for fear of being labeled weak, thus jeopardizing their careers.
Until recently, there has not been a healthy acceptance or treatment of combat stress within the Canadian Forces, said Barbara Everett, Ontario CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association, and a trauma expert.
"The idea of people getting together and talking things through, and having the brass of the military say that that is a good thing, is almost a signalling of a cultural shift," she said.
"The military has another agenda also. They cannot afford to lose their soldiers left, right and centre due to the after-effects of the engagement in Afghanistan."
Talking to peers about traumatic experiences can unquestionably help many people, Ms. Everett said. But she warned that it will be like "spitting in the wind" for others, whose pasts include childhood abuse and other factors that make them particularly susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The issue of combat stress in the Canadian forces was driven home by the high-profile breakdown of General Romeo Dallaire, who witnessed the Rwandan genocide in the late ‘90s as head of an overmatched United Nations military contingent.
The issue made headlines in July after the wives of four soldiers at a Fort Bragg, N.C., military base were murdered within weeks of each other. In each case, the husband is accused of the killling, and three of the accused recently returned from combat in Afghanistan.
A military board of inquiry that looked at illness among soldiers returning from duty in Croatia found many were suffering psychological after-effects, but were not being adequately treated.
The Defence Department has since set up five mental health centres across the country and implemented other measures to deal with psychological problems.
Maj. Fillion‘s paper notes that the condition once labeled shell shock was treated much less charitably in the past. The British Army executed 346 soldiers during the First World War who were likely suffering from post-traumatic stress, considering them to be cowards or malingerers.
Canadian soldiers routinely have access to formal psychological debriefings. But before that happens, they can benefit from talking to a colleague, the authors say.
"Often facing the same distress and disturbing events, going through the same struggle and sharing the same trench, peers ... may be the actual, and most beneficial, providers of emotional first aid."
Perhaps it‘s flattering/gratifying that the "experts" are finally recognising something that soliders have known all along - "... you had to be there ...".
"Troops should discuss feelings, officer says"
Tom Blackwell
National Post
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Discussing the difficulties of combat with each other would help troops reduce stress, a report says.
Soldiers should be encouraged to put aside their macho, stoic natures and talk to each other about traumatic experiences on peacekeeping and other dangerous missions, urges a new study co-authored by a senior Canadian army officer.
One expert says the proposal may signal a cultural shift in an organization that once shrugged off complaints of trauma.
As soldiers return from Canada‘s first offensive military action in half a century, the paper suggests servicemen start treating the potentially devastating effects of combat stress simply by discussing their feelings and observations.
This emotional defusing can take place in the field, well before they have access to psychologists and other professional services, the paper said.
While saying more research is needed, one of the authors suggests it may lessen the chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, the long-term condition that some experts have blamed for a recent string of murder-suicides at a U.S. army base.
"We should encourage people to talk about things instead of repressing the war experience," said Major Joel Fillion, a co-author and mental health nurse.
"The disclosure of emotions seems to be beneficial."
He stressed he was speaking for himself, not the Department of National Defence. The paper, also not official defence policy, appeared in the U.S.-based Journal of Psychosocial Nursing.
The idea of talking out the swirl of emotions brought on by the horrifying experiences soldiers face in places such as Rwanda, Bosnia and Afghanistan may seem like common sense, but the article notes military culture often conditions soldiers to be passionless and to avoid discussing their feelings for fear of being labeled weak, thus jeopardizing their careers.
Until recently, there has not been a healthy acceptance or treatment of combat stress within the Canadian Forces, said Barbara Everett, Ontario CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association, and a trauma expert.
"The idea of people getting together and talking things through, and having the brass of the military say that that is a good thing, is almost a signalling of a cultural shift," she said.
"The military has another agenda also. They cannot afford to lose their soldiers left, right and centre due to the after-effects of the engagement in Afghanistan."
Talking to peers about traumatic experiences can unquestionably help many people, Ms. Everett said. But she warned that it will be like "spitting in the wind" for others, whose pasts include childhood abuse and other factors that make them particularly susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The issue of combat stress in the Canadian forces was driven home by the high-profile breakdown of General Romeo Dallaire, who witnessed the Rwandan genocide in the late ‘90s as head of an overmatched United Nations military contingent.
The issue made headlines in July after the wives of four soldiers at a Fort Bragg, N.C., military base were murdered within weeks of each other. In each case, the husband is accused of the killling, and three of the accused recently returned from combat in Afghanistan.
A military board of inquiry that looked at illness among soldiers returning from duty in Croatia found many were suffering psychological after-effects, but were not being adequately treated.
The Defence Department has since set up five mental health centres across the country and implemented other measures to deal with psychological problems.
Maj. Fillion‘s paper notes that the condition once labeled shell shock was treated much less charitably in the past. The British Army executed 346 soldiers during the First World War who were likely suffering from post-traumatic stress, considering them to be cowards or malingerers.
Canadian soldiers routinely have access to formal psychological debriefings. But before that happens, they can benefit from talking to a colleague, the authors say.
"Often facing the same distress and disturbing events, going through the same struggle and sharing the same trench, peers ... may be the actual, and most beneficial, providers of emotional first aid."
