Our Favorite Blog of the Month: http://www.militarymentalhealth.org/blog/
The White House has pushed the issue of improving the mental health of military members and their families to front and center stage.
Last week President Obama announced sweeping changes to the Veterans’ Administration that will add thousands of counselors to their ranks as well as hundreds of community events and millions of dollars.
His focus, he said, was erasing the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues. Taking that first step through the doors of the local VA is going to be difficult for a lot of people.
With this website and blog, you don’t have to leave your house to take those first steps toward help.
The Department of Defense created the Military Pathways website with the help of Screening for Mental Health, a nonprofit organization. The site provides free, anonymous mental health and alcohol self-assessments for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve, as well as their families.
The website addresses depression, PTSD, anxiety disorder, alcohol use and bipolar disorder. After a series of self assessment questions, the site will tell visitors whether they could benefit from working with a mental health professional and will provide them with a referral for services provided through the DOD and the VA.
The site also includes videos addressing these issues and articles for family members and caregivers.
Finally, this site’s fantastic blog highlights new programs, treatments and steps you can take to regain control of your mental health. The blog tells the stories of military families’ journeys through PTSD. The blog posts provide information for military members, spouses and helps guides parents through improving the mental health of children and teens during deployment and PCS.
After just a few minutes on the site I found myself writing down several websites and clicking on links to programs that I thought would benefit my own family and friends.
The issue of mental health is not an easy one to address or know what direction to head in. Visit this site first to kick start your journey to a healthier future.
