Mental health a concern for spouses of deployed

Published by: Jocelyn Green on 15th Jan 2010 | View all blogs by Jocelyn Green

A large-scale study published yesterday found that 36.6percent of women whose husbands had deployed had at least one mental-health diagnosis, compared with 30.5 percent of women whose husbands had not deployed. Depression, anxiety, sleep disorder and acute stress reaction and adjustment disorder were the most common diagnoses in both groups.

The study looked at electronic medical data for more than 250,000 of the nearly 300,000 women whose active-duty Army husbands were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan from 2003 to 2006.

While this study only looked at spouses of active duty Army, we know mental health is a concern for spouses of all deployed. Many of you have read the story of Mark (a retired Navy SEAL) and Marshele Waddell, who now share their testimonies of dealing with PTSD through Bridges to Healing, a branch of Campus Crusade for Christ’s Military Ministry. Marshele speaks about reaching her breaking point in this devotional from Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan. Marshele Carter Waddell is also the co-author of When War Comes Home: Christ-centered healing for wives of combat veterans.

Below is a checklist of symptoms for depression.

Persistent sad, anxious or “empty” mood n Changes in sleep patterns
Reduced appetite and weight loss, or increased appetite and weight gain
Loss of pleasure and interest in once-enjoyable activities, including sex
Restlessness, irritability
Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as chronic pain or digestive disorders
Difficulty concentrating at work or at school, or difficulty remembering things or making decisions
Fatigue or loss of energy
Feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless
Thoughts of suicide or death

The rule of thumb is if you have five or more of these symptoms, you may be diagnosed as clinically depressed. Please, please don’t wait until you have five or more symptoms before seeking help.

Help comes in many forms:

Your relationship with Jeus Christ and by meditating on His Word, not your own circumstance
Support from your family, friends or others in the military community who have made it through to the other side of what you’re going through right now
Conversations or counseling with your pastor or church leaders
Counseling/therapy with a Christian psychologist
If you still need help after all of these, consult a medical professional

It is easy to be isolated, especially if you have just moved to a new place. It’s critical that you reach out for help when people can’t recognize a difference in your personality because they simply don’t know what to expect from you yet. By allowing yourself to get help, whatever form that may come in, you are investing not only in your own health, but in the health of your children and spouse, as well.