MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Alabama —
The term “mental health” is strange. Too often we equate “mental health” with problems, symptoms, or crises. However, mental health is just that: a form of health. The brain is part of the body. As members of the military, we pride ourselves on honing physical fitness, and the same should apply to that body’s command center (the brain).
In so many domains of life, we pride ourselves on knowing what we need and where to get it. Doing some DIY home improvement? Sometimes the clerk at your local hardware store is the right resource to get started. Taking a class? The instructor is probably a useful expert to lean on. If he needed a tooth pulled, well, TikTok or YouTube probably aren’t the most effective place to start to solve that problem.
But there are double standards around mental health when it comes to taking pride in using the tools and resources at our disposal. You could give therapy clients 10 years of psychology textbooks so they can take more pride in being self-sufficient with mental health practices, but it’s much more efficient to go to the right place to get the right experience. That’s where knowing who to turn to for what purpose is so important to fine-tune our psychological strength.
In the military, we are very fortunate to have the resources that we have at our disposal for this very purpose. Military OneSource, as well as Military Family Life Counseling and Airmen and Family Readiness help us navigate stressful periods in life. We have chaplains always available for spiritual welfare. Primary Care Behavioral Health is able to schedule appointments directly through the regular appointment line, often getting people in much sooner than the traditional mental health clinic. Additionally, Guard and Reserve members can also access the Director of Psychological Health (DPH) within their unit. And, of course, we’re also here at the mental health clinic. Air Force bases are an incredible one-stop shop for a wealth of mental health resources.
Unfortunately, mental health issues continue to be one of the biggest factors affecting readiness across the force. Suicide has claimed more lives than war operations since 9/11 and the demand for mental health services has increased by more than 300% in recent years. However, the supply of mental health providers has not matched the growing need.
In response, we have an opportunity for the entire base to rely on all the services at our disposal. The mental health clinic is just one tool in a big box of resiliency resources throughout the base. We need to trust each other within the units and really check how those on both sides are doing. Good sleep, diet, and exercise can stimulate many of the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant medications. If the brain is part of the body, we need to balance holistic health. And we must rely on the variety of experts and resources available just a phone call or a few steps away. At the mental health clinic, we are always striving to find creative ways to improve care and increase access to our services despite the challenges of supply and demand. For more information or if we can help you, please call us at 334-953-5430.
