{"id":148061,"date":"2024-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=148061"},"modified":"2024-04-11T16:43:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T16:43:12","slug":"new-daf-mental-health-overview-clarifies-mental-health-resources-for-airmen-guardians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=148061","title":{"rendered":"New DAF Mental Health Overview clarifies mental health resources for Airmen, Guardians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Department of the Air Force mental health leaders published a new “Mental Health Overview<\/strong><\/a>” that outlines comprehensive resources for Airmen and Guardians seeking mental health support.<\/p>\n

Unveiled on March 6 during the 2024 Mental Health Flight Leadership Conference<\/strong><\/a>, the overview is a collaborative effort from mental health leaders across the Air Force Medical Service. The overview guide\u2019s purpose is to destigmatize the complexities of mental health, shed light on the processes for seeking both clinical and non-clinical mental health assistance, and provide recommendations on how to best use all care resources.<\/p>\n

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The \u201cMental Health Overview\u201d project lead, Lt. Col. Eric Meyer, deputy director of psychological health and psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General<\/a><\/strong>, said it was created out of the critical need for Airmen and Guardians to understand what mental health means and to assemble mental health resources under one tool.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have amazing clinicians doing their best and policies that afford quite a lot of flexibility. But there was no resource that explained the whole system,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cWe wanted a user-friendly resource that could be used across the Department of the Air Force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Col. Christian Smith, Air Force director of psychological health, emphasized that leaders in the Air Force are continuing to change the culture surrounding mental health. One of these efforts is through releasing the \u201cMental Health Overview\u201d to ensure Airmen and Guardians are equipped to recognize how mental health can impact their resilience and overall wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMental Health can mean anything we do to take care for ourselves – from better sleep, hygiene, to better exercise, to better nutrition. On the other hand, it can imply a more severe pathologic illness,\u201d Smith said. \u201cEach part of that spectrum is somewhat unique and can benefit from different resources. The \u2018Mental Health Overview\u2019 lays that out. Our hope is that this will help clarify terminology and can provide common language and help for all Airmen and Guardians.\u201d<\/p>\n

With approachable language and tailored infographics, Meyer and his team of mental health experts leveraged educational best practices to help every Airman, Guardian, and their leaders and supervisors understand the Air Force\u2019s approach to mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to think that stigma was the primary barrier to seeking mental health care, but that\u2019s not true anymore. Today, it\u2019s mostly confusion, which leads to an understandable fear of getting help,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n

The overview guide contains seven brief chapters that debunk common mental health assumptions, differentiate clinical and non-clinical treatments, and provide guidance on the spectrum of mental health care available for different symptoms and levels of mental distress. The last three chapters delve into specific options for engaging with Mental Health clinics, the expectations for initiating clinical care and further guidance on remission and return to duty.<\/p>\n

Meyer stressed that over the past decade, the majority of service members seeking mental help were actually looking for non-clinical resources, \u201cIt\u2019s great that people are seeking care before things get out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some patients do not necessarily need clinical mental health care but could benefit from non-clinical support from friends and family, command teams, chaplain teams, and from Military & Family Life Counseling<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost service members don\u2019t know that\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n

Each part of that spectrum is somewhat unique and can benefit from different resources. The \u2018Mental Health Overview\u2019 lays that out.Col. Christian Smith<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Meyer, most Airmen and Guardians who receive clinical mental health treatment achieve remission, and part of that success is from awareness of the various resources available to them. The overview guide ensures these resources are at their fingertips to bring them back to a healthy state of mind ready to engage with their duties.<\/p>\n

If a service member\u2019s treatment plan is observed to be ineffective, the guide provides assurance from mental health leaders that clinical personnel will prioritize their patient\u2019s health and tailor care toward their specific needs.<\/p>\n

In addition to publishing the \u201cMental Health Overview\u201d digitally, physical copies and chapter handouts will be available at Mental Health clinics and across all Air Force bases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of the Air Force recognizes that people are our most valuable asset and that taking care of them leads to more productivity and happiness,\u201d Smith said. \u201cA wide variety of efforts are underway to help our Airmen and Guardians find a life of wellbeing both on and off the job. This is one way we are getting after mental health and resiliency.\u201d<\/p>\n

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U.S. Air Force Logo<\/title><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) — \u00a0 Department of the Air Force mental health leaders published a new “Mental Health Overview” that outlines comprehensive resources for Airmen and Guardians seeking mental health support. Unveiled on March 6 during the 2024 Mental Health Flight Leadership Conference, the overview is a collaborative effort from mental health leaders across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":148063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=148061"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148064,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148061\/revisions\/148064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/148063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=148061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=148061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=148061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}