US Military and Depression (Mission 22)
Open door policy. A policy that is put in place so that soldiers of any rank can walk into a command teams office and feel free of speaking about things that can affect discipline, morale and/or mission effectiveness.
The thing is that with the uniform comes a certain uphold,
that you have to be strong, stern, no emotions, no feelings.
And truth be told that is what breaks people.
We are human beings! We are all living, breathing, feeling things and we were made to love, and dream, and believe.
There is no denying that when you join the military, there is a sense of pride, accomplishment, bravery, courage, and maybe even confidence that comes with that.
The military, the veterans, the ones who fought for the freedom of others.
The ones first to be called when there is a tragedy in the world, natural disasters, or protection that needs to be put in place.
We protect the people of our country, we practice, we test, every day.
We stay always prepared for the "big fight".
But at what cost?
How much is too much? How far is too far?
You know, one thing you hear a lot when you're in the service is,
"Y'all are lucky you didn't have to experience the old military",
"The soldiers nowadays are broken".
Why?
Because we passed the era of physically hurting someone in order to be obeyed or respected.
Because now, more people are willing to speak up for themselves and be true to what they feel and what they cannot endure any longer?
There is this perception of you all the time.
Its never actually about who you are, but rather how well you're able to play along with the game of puppet to officials.
If you give in and seek help for the trauma, the weakening of your mental or physical health, then there is a perception of your worthiness and strength.
You see when you're in the service you're not looked at as a person, but much rather a number, a toy soldier.
When you go for a promotion, you're looked at by your accomplishments first. What is the score of your physical training test and numbers next to your body composition, what extra military training have you've done?
When you seek help because physically your body is breaking from the extensive exercise pieces of training required to do on a weekly if not daily basis you are forgotten, or better yet, looked at under a scope to see what is wrong with you.
Except funny thing is (sarcastically speaking) you aren't really looked at for proper treatment, except they take every case the same, and go through steps 1-10 before actually seeing what is the cause of your pain (physically, or mentally/emotionally). They prescribe drugs to our soldiers and hope for a better day. When they fail to realize these same prescribed drugs are what cause a chemical imbalance and now you have soldiers with sleeping problems, anxiety, mental clarity is now gone.
There's a stigma,
If you have a profile (a medical written note from your provider stating what and why you cannot perform or are limited to performing certain actions),
then you are weak, unworthy, empty weight.
Then, there is the family.
The people who love their soldier the most but receive the separation, the frustration and stress that is brought home, the marriage counseling, the instability, the loneliness, the family to hold together after their soldier is gone again.
I wanted to make this post because depression is real. Service members aren't being heard, and instead of building morale it is broken with every extra bulls**t training.
What we NEED to start training our soldiers on is learning how to feel, and communicate those feelings in a safe and heard, nonjudgmental place.
In 2013, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study that showed an average of 22 soldiers dying by suicide per day.
22 soldiers not only signifies the soldier lost to suicide, but is an unfortunate truth Yelling at us, "Please listen", "Please take care of us too."
The red on our flag is our blood.
I want to send so much love, respect, and light to our Veterans and military personnel here with us and those who have passed, for putting your life on the line for a country that is "Fighting for Peace".
Let us find peace within ourselves and love ourselves so much deeper than the uniform we wear/wore and speak up when we cannot handle it any further. Don't let your ego or the opinions of others make you feel weak, for you are the opposite, a strong vessel, and you are needed in this world.
Peace and Love beautiful souls,
Dream Catchers,
Marthina Llamas
oxo
The thing is that with the uniform comes a certain uphold,
that you have to be strong, stern, no emotions, no feelings.
And truth be told that is what breaks people.
We are human beings! We are all living, breathing, feeling things and we were made to love, and dream, and believe.
There is no denying that when you join the military, there is a sense of pride, accomplishment, bravery, courage, and maybe even confidence that comes with that.
The military, the veterans, the ones who fought for the freedom of others.
The ones first to be called when there is a tragedy in the world, natural disasters, or protection that needs to be put in place.
We protect the people of our country, we practice, we test, every day.
We stay always prepared for the "big fight".
But at what cost?
How much is too much? How far is too far?
You know, one thing you hear a lot when you're in the service is,
"Y'all are lucky you didn't have to experience the old military",
"The soldiers nowadays are broken".
Why?
Because we passed the era of physically hurting someone in order to be obeyed or respected.Because now, more people are willing to speak up for themselves and be true to what they feel and what they cannot endure any longer?
There is this perception of you all the time.
Its never actually about who you are, but rather how well you're able to play along with the game of puppet to officials.
If you give in and seek help for the trauma, the weakening of your mental or physical health, then there is a perception of your worthiness and strength.
You see when you're in the service you're not looked at as a person, but much rather a number, a toy soldier.
When you go for a promotion, you're looked at by your accomplishments first. What is the score of your physical training test and numbers next to your body composition, what extra military training have you've done?
When you seek help because physically your body is breaking from the extensive exercise pieces of training required to do on a weekly if not daily basis you are forgotten, or better yet, looked at under a scope to see what is wrong with you.
Except funny thing is (sarcastically speaking) you aren't really looked at for proper treatment, except they take every case the same, and go through steps 1-10 before actually seeing what is the cause of your pain (physically, or mentally/emotionally). They prescribe drugs to our soldiers and hope for a better day. When they fail to realize these same prescribed drugs are what cause a chemical imbalance and now you have soldiers with sleeping problems, anxiety, mental clarity is now gone.
There's a stigma,
If you have a profile (a medical written note from your provider stating what and why you cannot perform or are limited to performing certain actions),
then you are weak, unworthy, empty weight.
Then, there is the family.
The people who love their soldier the most but receive the separation, the frustration and stress that is brought home, the marriage counseling, the instability, the loneliness, the family to hold together after their soldier is gone again.
I wanted to make this post because depression is real. Service members aren't being heard, and instead of building morale it is broken with every extra bulls**t training.
What we NEED to start training our soldiers on is learning how to feel, and communicate those feelings in a safe and heard, nonjudgmental place.
In 2013, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study that showed an average of 22 soldiers dying by suicide per day.
22 soldiers not only signifies the soldier lost to suicide, but is an unfortunate truth Yelling at us, "Please listen", "Please take care of us too."
The red on our flag is our blood.
I want to send so much love, respect, and light to our Veterans and military personnel here with us and those who have passed, for putting your life on the line for a country that is "Fighting for Peace".
Let us find peace within ourselves and love ourselves so much deeper than the uniform we wear/wore and speak up when we cannot handle it any further. Don't let your ego or the opinions of others make you feel weak, for you are the opposite, a strong vessel, and you are needed in this world.
Peace and Love beautiful souls,
Dream Catchers,
Marthina Llamas
oxo
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