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Event
The Politics of War Trauma: Ending The Generational Cycle of Mental Health Crises (5 CE credits)
DATES:
Saturday, September 9 1:45pm-7pm (Registration 1:30pm)
DESCRIPTION:
Politics of War Trauma is an overview of the Institutes current research uncovering ten avoidance strategies used by the government and military to deal with its mental health dilemma responsible for a generational cycle of self-inflicted wartime crises: Presenters make the argument that future progress on eliminating mental health stigma and disparity in the private sector is directly dependent upon the militarys a healthy or adaptive resolution of the militarys mental health problem.
Since the 20th century, the American military and governments have been confronted with the harsh reality of modern industrial warfare whereby the number and costs of psychiatric casualties regularly exceeds the combined total of service members both killed-and-medically-wounded-in-action. Any military and any corporation has the dual responsibility for reaching their mission; targeted performance goals and sufficiently attending to its employees health and welfare. In the struggle to fight wars and care for the war fighter, the latter is sacrificed war after war. Since its 2009 inception, Antiochs Institute of War Stress Injury, Recovery, and Social Justice has published groundbreaking research identifying ten essential war trauma lessons documented by every generation since the First World War (WWI) that are required to meet mental health needs (Russell, Robertson, & Figley, 2015). However, additional Institute studies present robust evidence that the military routinely ignores these vital psychiatric lessons resulting in self-inflicted, largely preventable public health crises from WWI to present-day (e.g., Russell & Figley, 2015a; 2015b: Russell, Zinn, & Figley, 2016).
However, answers are elusive to the question why the military and government uncharacteristically refuse to learn from its own published lessons learned harming millions of veterans and their families, and broader society.
In Politics of War Trauma, Institute researchers present findings from their most recent groundbreaking research unveiling political and economic barriers associated with war trauma and military culpability in behavioral health crises both within and outside of the warrior class. Specifically, the military has historically employed ten approaches aimed at avoiding learning from its war trauma lessons by punishing, eliminating, and/or concealing its mental health problem: 1) Cruel and Inhumane Handling; 2) Legal Prosecution, Incarceration, and Executions; 3) Weaponizing Stigma to Humiliate, Ridicule, and Shame into Submission; 4) Denying the Realities of mental health; 5) Screening and Preventing Weakness; 6) Delay and Deception; 7) Bad Paper Discharges; 8) Diffusion of Responsibility and Erecting Organizational Barriers to Care; 9) Appeasement, Half-Measures, and Other Temporary Fixes; and 10) Perpetuating Neglect and Self-Inflicted Crises.
Collectively these avoidant strategies carry-on a 100-year-old tradition started during WWI to preserve the militarys short-term capacity to fight and win wars while protecting society and its government from feared financial ruin (see Russell et al., 2017). Each of the above strategies represents the militarys commitment to avoid full acceptance or permanent learning that mental healthcare is a legitimate component of military readiness deserving equal priority as medicine. Practical solutions for meeting mental health needs and ending the generational cycle are discussed. Implications for transforming military and broader society are also revealed as are legal ramifications if the military should continue to neglect learning from its so-called psychiatric lessons of war.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. Attendees can list two foundational lessons of war trauma required to meet mental health needs.
2. Attendees can describe the militarys mental health dilemma.
3. Attendees can identify two avoidance strategies the military utilizes to prevent learning from the psychiatric realities of war.
4. Attendees are able to list one example of how the military weaponizes stigma to address its mental health problem.
5. Attendees can explain how eliminating the politics and economics of trauma can end the generational cycle of preventable mental health crises.
PRESENTERS:
Dr. Charles R. Figley is an internationally acclaimed, distinguished chair at Tulane University, and pioneer in the field of traumatology and compassion fatigue. He is the Director of the Traumatology Institute and founding president of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, the founding editor of the Journal of Traumatic Stress and editor of Traumatology. Among Dr. Figley's numerous publications are The Traumatology of Grieving (1998) and the benchmark works Compassion Fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat the Traumatized (1995) and Treating Compassion Fatigue 1st Edition (2002).
Dr. Mark C. Russell is a board-certified clinical psychologist and core faculty at Antioch University Seattle. He is the Director of Antiochs Institute of War Stress Injury, Recovery, and Social Justice and centrally featured in the recent documentary film: Thank you for your service! Dr. Russell has published over 28 articles/book chapters on traumatic stress including: The Double Edge of Empathy: Toward a Neurobiological Model of Compassion Stress Injury, as well as co-authoring: Treating Traumatic Stress Injury in Military Personnel (2013) with Dr. Figley.
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LocationAntioch University Seattle (View)
2400 3rd Ave
Seattle, WA 98121
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 18 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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