PUBLICATIONS P
longitudinal study, and we hope to follow these families for 21 years,” Fairbank notes. “This project will allow us to look at the impact of PTSD and other signifi cant war- related health and mental health conditions and see how the children in the families are doing.” There is research in other areas
Ready
whenever and wherever you are.
of trauma, Fairbank says, which sug- gests that when children are exposed to trauma at a younger age, the im- pact tends to be more complex. “It has a broader range of outcomes, the younger the person is at the time they are exposed to the trauma,” Fairbank says. “But what we don’t know at this point is how the age of the child relates to the parent’s war- related PTSD. We hope to fi nd that out through our research.” According to Dr. Ron Avi Astor, a
Enjoy Military Off icer Select on your tablet!
THE NEW MOAA PUBLICATIONS APP OFFERS MUCH OF THE SAME CONTENT YOU LOVE IN AN APPEALING, INTERACTIVE FORMAT. DOWNLOAD THE TABLET APP TODAY!
To begin enjoying this expanded benefit, search for “MOAA Publications” in the iTunes Store or in Google Play to download the tablet app. Users must have iOS version 6.0 or Android 4.0.3 or later.
psychologist and the Lenore Stein- Wood and William S. Wood Professor of School Behavioral Health at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, two of the most impor- tant factors that can infl uence how a parent’s trauma will aff ect the rest of the family are family communication skills and outside support systems. “From our work, we see it’s not the PTSD alone or even the experi- ence of war alone that determines the outcome of a child or family,” Astor explains. “While the military parent is away, the other parent may struggle with the organization of the house- hold. If they have good support, it’s a nonissue. If they have bad support, it can be disastrous. If you add PTSD on top of that, without a lot of strong so- cial support, I think that makes things even more diffi cult.” Being a parent with PTS can be
extremely diffi cult. But help is avail- able for those who seek it. “If you believe you have a prob-
lem, reach out,” advises Miller. “When you fi gure out that you have dug yourself into a hole, you have to climb out of it and live in the real
78 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2016
world. Essentially, what I was doing was hiding from the reality that I had PTSD for a long time. You have to face it and not let it defi ne you. You have to make sure you are in control of it.” Fairbank recommends a resilien-
cy-based resource known as Project FOCUS. (See “Related Resources.”) “It is really focused on talking about deployments before they happen and upon return, as well as all of the is- sues that aff ect children, spouses, and servicemembers,” Fairbank says. “It does it in a very family-focused way.”
Early prep is helpful Advanced preparation for a military parent’s deployment and return, and the issues that might pop up afterward, also can be benefi cial, says Astor. “The more the family can prepare psychologically, socially, and emotionally and speak openly about it, the better, depending on the age of the child,” he explains. “Families also need to situate themselves in a strong, caring and supportive family and community setting.” The VA is there to help, says
Schnurr. It provides a variety of family services, including educa- tion, consultation, and marriage and family counseling, for immediate family and caregivers. Additionally, many support programs are in place, including a parenting self-help Web-based course (see “Related Resources”) tailored to the needs of veterans and active duty service- members facing mental health and reintegration challenges. The VA also has partnered with
the UCLA Welcome Back Veterans Family Resilience Center and the Military Child Education Coalition on pilots of clinic-based parenting education initiatives.
MO
— Don Vaughan is a freelance writer from North Carolina. His last article for Military Offi cer was “TBI Prognosis,” March 2016.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92