Kate Hendricks Thomas - Bulletproofing the Psyche: Preventing Mental Health Problems in Our Military and Veterans

Charles R. Figley

Jennifer E. C. Lee and Sanela Dursun

Matthew J. M. Hendricks

Kyleanne Hunter

Ben King

Deborah Norris and Aurora Hutchinson

Laura Westley

Kate Hendricks Thomas and David L. Albright

Joseph M. Currier, Jacob K. Farnsworth, Kent D. Drescher, and Wesley H. McCormick

Cate Florenz and Margaret M. Shields

Robin Carnes and Stephen Kaplan

Kelli Godfrey, Justin T. McDaniel, Lydia Davey, Sarah Plummer Taylor, and Christine Isana Garcia

Jessica Wilkes

Katharine Bloeser and Heliana Ramirez

Charles R. McAdams III

Kari L. Fletcher, Mariah Rooney OBrien, and Kamilah A. Jones

Rev. Sarah A. Shirley, Rev. Elizabeth A. Alders, Howard A. Crosby Jr., Kathleen G. Charters, and Rev. John Edgar Caterson

Lori L. Davis and Richard Toscano

Nicholas J. Armstrong, Gillian S. Cantor, Bonnie Chapman, and James D. McDonough Jr.

Kate Germano

Kelsey L. Larsen and Elizabeth A. Stanley

A long time ago, I was a Marine in Vietnam. My war was different from other conflicts these days (e.g., training, equipment, enemy), but much is the same. Warfighters have a job to do: to win, to kill, and to complete the mission. Self-care is not on their to-do list. Not then and not now. But it should be. We had no idea back then how stress could affect your sleep or how you can get better sleep by controlling your stress. Common behaviors such as drinking alcohol or other self-medicating efforts are flawed but sometimes necessary to restore stasis. Let me return to my experiences later.

This book is about building resilience in military personnel and veterans. It is an alternative to books that focus on the problems these men and women face or that emphasize the negative consequences of military service in the form of mental illness diagnoses. This book is about hope and about the belief that with effort we are able, all of us, to develop and wear a bulletproof psyche just as we wear a bulletproof vest into battle. We can build up our skills, moral compass, integrating honor, mutual support, trust, and the other tools discussed in this book that better prepare men and women for severe conditions that persist for prolonged periods of time.

Kate Hendricks Thomas and David L. Albright know about the need for such skills and resources to enable effective leadership, adaptability, and creativity to get the job done, no matter what. They were able to recruit not only the authors who are scholars, researchers, and practitioners to contribute to this book but also writers who are military veterans, including combat vets. This mixture of voices leads to a harmony of thoughtful creativity and reflection about what is needed to effectively serve as a shield from the horrors of war and its immediate and long-lasting consequences. Such a shield would enable veterans to go through the phases of reentry to society and to be effective and loving family members.

The aim of this book is consistent with its theme: embracing and quickly managing the s*** by taking advantage of the innovations of the mindfulness movement and other alternative and complementary behavioral health practices. However, there is a cautionary note at the end of this book. Despite the best plans and efforts, the military does what it does. New commanders take over and do the best they can. Sometimes new leadership ends a successful program, like the ones described in this book.

The characteristics of bulletproofing are largely the same as the concept of mettle. Mettle is a persons ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way. Bulletproofing the psyche, then, like having the right stuff, mettle, or resilience, is about decreasing the mental health risk factors and increasing the protective factors. Rather than focusing on a diagnosis (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, depression), the focus is on preventing and bouncing back from traumatic events.

This book illustrates how and why resilience can be taught and trained. It is far better than the traditional focus on mental disorders and psychopathology. The focus is on medical prevention as well as rehabilitation toward functioning. This is one of the reasons why many are shifting toward favoring the World Health Organizations nomenclature over that of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual