General Education for Tutor Beth only

Rough Draft

Rodney Buentello

GEN 499 General Education

Instructor John Thorburn

May 29th, 2015

Over the years, it has been well-documented that there have been a lot of problems concerning substance abuse, suicide and mental disorders in the military and its ranks. A pentagon report released during the summer time showed that close to 18percent suicide increase cases were experienced in a period of one year. During the first half of the year 2012, the rate of suicide experienced among the active-duty of the nation greatly outpaced the number of military officials that died in the battle. Despite the failure of the department to fully understand the fact that a lot of military officials encounter problems with emotions and drug abuse, experts from psychological fields say that there is a very close connection of such habits when the officials are deployed to countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. Officials from the defense department have come to the mutual conclusion that American army has never engaged themselves in wars with such problems becoming frequent among its officials. A lot of money has been spent by the top brass trying to formulate prevention and treatment programs for the officials making it clear that any person that has uniform need not be stigmatized when seeking medical treatment.

Introduction

The military is defined as the forces that have been authorized to use weapons and deadly force to try and support the interests of the citizens and their state. They are usually assigned with the task of defending their people by protecting them against wars from other countries. Additionally, they may have both the non-sanctioned and sanctioned functions in the society that include promoting agendas of politics, controlling the internal population, economic interests and society functions. Despite being reliable and efficient to their citizens, the military has faced problems regarding drugs, suicide and huge rates of depressions among their officials. Such problems are growing at rates that are alarming and sensitive to the nation due to the many number of deaths that are reported on a yearly basis. A lot of efforts have been made by organizations but more needs to be done as the army officials are encountering a lot of hardships in trying to deal with such problems. The study examines the problems in detailed form and explains what needs to be done.

To begin with, IOM came up with the conclusion that prevention and treatment programs are inconsistent as they frequently use evidence based drugs that the providers of the healthcare departments have not gotten adequate training on them at all their levels contributing to low levels of care by the officials. In such a case, evidence based medicine simply refers to the treatment patients are given with therapies that are always proven to be effective. Furthermore, the report said that drugs that are outdated are often prescribed to patients instead of new ones that are usually of good standard price in the lives of the civilians (Black etc, 2004). TRICARE, the military health care program was highly criticized with both their dependents for not being concerned with covering medications that were newer unless their patients ended up being in special facilities from rehabilitation centers. In addition, it failed to recommend that its benefits were to be revised for the sake of giving the soldiers good treatment in the event that they live in communities that were large.

A report taken by IOM says that there has been a constant increase in the rate of alcohol abuse among the military officials. Additionally, the military officials have the tendency of placing their staffs in facilities used in the rehabilitation of drugs as opposed to the doctor’s move which suggests that; patients should seek modern treatment and focus more on emphasizing on outpatient care. Doctors have further suggested that it is good for the military to deeply understand that addiction to modern treatment implies using drugs such as suboxone; that has for a long time been used by the civilians as a treatment option for opiate addiction and also vivitrol that plays effective roles in reducing the patients craving for narcotic and alcohol. Such drugs need to be within reach by the military medicine department with an addition of not being able to be found by the average people.

The growing problems of not using substances in a proper manner, has been reported to be on the rise by the news every hour. Additionally, the rate of stress, several disorders related to Afghanistan and Iraq veterans like Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PTSD). Top executives found in the military need to take a serious action by ensuring that cases reported concerning the above issues are well taken care of according to( Friedman(2006). The army has over the years spent a lot of cash dollars in training every man and woman, with a uniform on how to be psychologically resilient with the available soldier fitness program. All soldiers in the army are needed to attend a good number of hours of resilience training that includes drills and lectures that will play effective roles in eradicating a lot of emotional problems that are beginning to be on the rise among the officials.

The military’s program has been strongly condemned by a good number of people in the psychiatric community pointing out that the army was greatly trying to brainwash their military populations with a program that has no sound science behind it in medicine that is evidence based. Another incident included the situation in which a husband had to shoot himself to the point of dying after he was diagnosed with Post-traumatic disorder for stress says (Marshall etc. (2005). The details given by the wife reveals that inadequate medical intervention was given by the veterans’ administration. Furthermore, the official was observed to have been stonewalled to the benefits that he was generally entitled to. The woman was rewarded heavily by the government after she filed the case.

Another incident comprised of a young reservist from the region of Colorado that was thrown out of the military upon the incident in which he was holding up a store convenience at gunpoint. He tried seeking help for the condition but was highly neglected and discouraged for the misconduct. The military official eventually obtained help from a good psychiatrist that reported that the army was not a criminal but sick and needed a lot of care and help by the people that interacted with him frequently. Having anger that was out of control was the major problem with such guys as the wife further said that she was constantly afraid of what such a person may end up doing in return. It was further discovered by the author after interviewing the couple making their way to the front door. At such a point, it was discovered that there will be something rattling in one’s brain. Sitting behind doors that were closed was a pathway to shotgun. The incident was a good demonstration or indication of what a war can impact on the life of the soldier’s mind. Furthermore, it helped shine a light on how the respective pentagon often treated mental disorder by simply going ahead to use punishment instead of offering treatment to the soldiers (Black etc, 2004). Stigma against soldiers that often went out to seek help for constantly abusing drugs and issues related to mental health is becoming a well-known part of the military life. The culture is actually demanding on the lives of the soldiers as many of them are expected to suck up and move on with their situation despite the fact that they are greatly disturbed.

In summary, it has been seen that a lot of military officials are encountering a lot of hardships in their lives due to the move to seek medical help concerning their mental conditions. Families that have soldiers working in the military need to take active actions to save their members by helping them get medical help and reporting defiance from the heads. IOM has decided to take note of the so called pentagon that uses the motto ‘lead from the top ‘as a better way to address how it has struggled with mental disorders and drug abuse in the military ranks. When contacted, the health department responded by saying that they will work hard to see to it that the lives of the soldiers are greatly sorted out and that they continue enjoying better services.

References

Black, D. W., Carney, C. P., Forman-Hoffman, V. L., Letuchy, E., Peloso, P., Woolson, R. F., & Doebbeling, B. N. (2004). Depression in veterans of the first Gulf War and comparable military controls. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 16(2), 53-61.

Friedman, M. J. (2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder among military returnees from Afghanistan and Iraq. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 586-593.

Marshall, A. D., Panuzio, J., & Taft, C. T. (2005). Intimate partner violence among military veterans andactive duty servicemen. Clinical psychology review, 25(7), 862-876.