Page 649 - Total War on PTSD

the BRAVEMIND system to address PTSD due to MST. This involved a significant effort to create new content within the existing BRAVEMIND scenarios such as barracks, tents, other living and work quarters, latrines, and other contexts that have been reported by MST victims as in-theatre locations where their sexual assault occurred. Moreover, based on interviews with MST victims, most occurrences of sexual trauma are NOT happening in the trenches of Afghanistan, but rather the more common contexts are in areas around military bases in the U.S.. Thus, stateside military base and civilian contexts were created including barracks, offices, a town bar area, abandoned lots, motel rooms, and civilian automobile settings. While both men and women can experience MST, the urgent need for this work is underscored by the growing role of women transitioning into full combat roles in the combat theatre, an area that up to now has been primarily the domain of men.
Prevention of PTSD with Pre-Deployment Resilience Training
Our lab is also working with the military to create realistic war-like experiences to train soldiers to better methods for coping with the physical, social, and emotional stress of the combat before they go to war. This is especially important when we look at the mental health statistics regarding SMs exposure to combat. One in five SMs who return from Afghanistan and Iraq have symptoms of PTSD or major depression and a widely cited 2016 VA study reported that in 2014 over 7,400 Veterans - 20 per day — took their own lives. Perhaps these numbers could be dramatically reduced with a focus on building psychological resilience in SMs prior to a combat deployment?
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