2013 saw Dionne Williamson return from a term of duty in Afghanistan, but she was emotionally numb. Throughout several years of ensuing abroad assignments, more red flags started to emerge.
Williamson a Navy lieutenant commander who suffered from melancholy, memory loss, disorientation, and chronic weariness, said, “It’s like I lost me someplace.” “I went to my captain and told him I needed assistance, sir, ”Something’s not right.”
Williamson’s experiences shed light on the realities for service members seeking mental health care as the Pentagon works to address the skyrocketing suicide rates in the military. For most people, even admitting they have problems can be frightening. And what follows can be demoralizing and frustrating.
Through a month-long hospital stay and a therapeutic program that includes horseback riding, Williamson, 46, eventually achieved stability. But it took her years of struggle to acquire the assistance she required. It’s amazing how I survived, she remarked.
The formation of an impartial commission to evaluate the military’s mental health and suicide prevention initiatives was announced by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in March.
Data from the Defense Department shows a more than 40% increase in suicides among active-duty service personnel between 2015 and 2020. The numbers grew by 15% in 2020 alone. The percentage has doubled in long-time suicide hotspot posts like Alaska, where military members and their families struggle with great isolation and a hostile environment.
According to a Cost of War Project analysis from 2021, since 9/11, four times as many military personnel and veterans have committed suicide as have died in battle. The study went into detail about the unique stressors that military life entails, including “high exposure to trauma—mental, physical, moral, and sexual,” stress and burnout, the influence of the military’s hegemonic masculine culture, ongoing access to guns, and the challenge of reintegrating into civilian life.
Several inquiries for comment to the Pentagon went unanswered. Austin, though, has admitted that the Pentagon’s present mental health services, including a Defense Suicide Prevention Office founded in 2011, have fallen short of expectations.
Austin said in March, “It is crucial that we look after all of our colleagues and continue to emphasize that mental health and suicide prevention remain a vital goal. Obviously, there is still work to be done.
Last year, the Army updated its policies for commanders on how to manage personnel issues including mental health, along with scripts and briefing slides. But significant long-term obstacles still exist. Given the internal military ethos of self-sufficiency, many troops are afraid to acknowledge they have mental health problems for fear of being stigmatized. And those who seek assistance frequently discover that the stigma is not only genuine but also made worse by administrative barriers.
A network of charitable organizations close to the military has attempted to fill the gaps with a range of programs and outreach initiatives, much like the issue of food insecurity in military families.
Some are entirely recreational, such as an annual fishing competition in Alaska created to give service members access to outdoor space and companionship. Others, like an Armed Services YMCA program that provides free childcare so that military parents can attend therapy sessions, are more concerned with self-care.
Alaska is in a particularly bad predicament. Command Sgt. Maj. Phil Blaisdell addressed his soldiers in an emotional Instagram post in January following a spate of suicides. He questioned, “When did suicide become the solution? If you have any questions, DM me. Thank you.
While being posted to Alaska can be a dream for some military members, it’s a lonely nightmare for others, according to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and this need to be addressed.
Murkowski stated, “When you see the figures rising as they are, you’ve got to be paying attention to this.” “As of right now, you have everyone. The Joint Chiefs are asking, “Holy smokes, what’s going on up there?” as they survey Alaska.
The lack of local therapists in Alaska adds to the strains of a posting there. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth heard from base healthcare employees who claim they are understaffed, exhausted, and unable to examine patients in a timely manner during a visit to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson earlier this year. When a soldier requests assistance, they frequently have to wait weeks for a consultation.
One veteran counselor told Wormuth at a meeting, “We have people who need our services and we can’t get to them. ”We need staff, and until we receive them, soldiers will keep dying.”
According to co-founder Keith Manternach, the purpose of the annual Combat Fishing Tournament in Seward, Alaska, is to “get the kids out of the barracks, get them off the base for the day, and get them out of their heads.”
The 2007 contest, which now includes over 300 service members, consists of a day of deep-water fishing followed by a festive luncheon with awards for the biggest catch, smallest catch, and sickest participant.
Manternach added, “I think there’s a significant element of mental health to it.
Not just in Alaska, either. 18-year veteran Sgt. Antonio Rivera, who served three tours in Iraq and a year at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, readily admits that he suffers from severe PTSD.
“I am aware that I require assistance. There are signs and I’ve waited long enough,” said Rivera, 48, who is stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. “I don’t want my kids to suffer because I didn’t go get treatment,” the person said.
Despite doing yoga, he claims he needs more. He is hesitant to look for assistance within the military.
I myself would feel more at ease speaking to someone outside, he said. Without having to worry about how it would impact my profession, it would enable me to open myself much more.
Others, who spoke up, claim that getting help is difficult.
Williamson claimed that despite the fact that there were “loads of briefings and literature about suicide and PTSD” on the site, she had to fight for time off and therapy.
She eventually enrolled in an Arizona inpatient program for one month. When she got home, a therapist suggested horse-assisted therapy, which was a game-changer.
At the Cloverleaf Equine Center in Clifton, Virginia, where riding lessons can be paired with a range of therapeutic techniques and exercises, Williamson is now a regular. People with physical or mental problems and kids with autism have long embraced working with horses as a method of treatment. However, in recent years, it has gained support for aiding service members with PTSD and anxiety.
You must have the ability to control your emotions in order to work with horses. They express themselves through energy and body language, according to Shelby Morrison, director of communications at Cloverleaf. “They react to the energies present. They react to anxiety, excitement, positive, and negative.
Morrison claimed that military clients arrive with “a lot of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. To break them free of their triggers, we employ the horse.
Williamson has become more stable because of her regular riding lessons. She still has problems, and she claims that her prolonged battle for help has harmed her relationships with several senior officers. She is currently on restricted duty and is unsure of her plans for after her 20th anniversary in March.
However, she claims that for the first time in recent memory, equine therapy has given her hope.
Now I make sure to come here even if I can’t get out of bed,” she remarked. “I have no idea where I would be if I hadn’t been here.”
