POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (P.T.S.D.)

The LeafChroicle.com
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Army fights new front: Stopping rise in soldier suicide
(By ALAN GOMEZ | USA TODAY | March 25, 2009)

BAGHDAD - In Maj. Thomas Jarrett's stress management class ringed with concrete blast walls, American troops are urged not to accept post-traumatic stress disorder as an inevitable consequence of war.

Instead, Jarrett tells them to strive for "post traumatic growth."

During a 90-minute presentation entitled "Warrior Resilience and Thriving," Jarrett, a former corporate coach, offers this and other unconventional tips on how troops can stat mentally healthy once they return home. He quotes Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Paradise Lost" author John Milton and German philosopher Fredrick Nietzsche, among others.

Walking through the cord of young Gls in the makeshift classroom, Jarrett urges them to fight.

The overriding theme of the course: Troops have the power to determine how they react to the horrors they may experience in Iraq. They can either accept them as traumatizing events, or transform them into learning, even empowering, experiences.

"Pain is inevitable; Suffering is optional," says Sgt. Michael Venutto, a member of Jarrett's team of instructors.

The class is part of an urgent initiative aimed at halting an epidemic of suicides, which has killed almost as many American troops this tear as combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. The trend has left top military psychologists puzzled and resulted in a new emphasis on programs that alleviate stress and prevent possible suicides while troops are still on the battlefield, where doctors say many mental health problems begin.

To that end, every soldier arriving in Iraq is now handed a card detailing the warning signs for depression and suicide. Two-star generals appear on the Armed Forces Network talking about their experiences with mental health specialists and how it helped. And mental health experts are spending more time on the front lines to make the counselling process informal and accessible to troops who may be reluctant about seeking out a psychiatrist.

The challenge is to get soldiers to open up about their troubles and to break what Lt. Col. Peyton Hurt, the senior psychiatrist in Iraq, calls the old Army way. "You suck it up and drive on."

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