{"id":1442,"date":"2019-11-20T13:53:35","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T19:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/?p=1442"},"modified":"2019-11-20T13:53:37","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T19:53:37","slug":"mental-health-triggers-of-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/2019\/11\/20\/mental-health-triggers-of-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental health triggers of deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Depression is a common and serious illness that negatively effects how a person feels, thinks and acts, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Although more than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, some are still hesitant to admit they struggle with it because of the stigma it carries.
\nWhen someone is predisposed to depression, what impact does military life, more specifically deployments, have on their illness?
\nSara White, a military spouse and mom of four, recently opened up about her diagnosis on Facebook. She shares how finding the right balance of self-care and medication brought her out of her funk and back to enjoying her family and the military life she loves.
\nWhite was predisposed to having depression and anxiety. In her teen years she was diagnosed with anxiety, but it wasn\u2019t until her husband\u2019s first deployment that her depressive symptoms fully manifested.
\nWhite recalls, \u201cI was 23 years old. The doctor saw me for only ten minutes then diagnosed me with post traumatic stress syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety. He threw a bunch of medication at me.\u201d
\nWhile taking the medicine, White was asked if she felt better. \u201cI don\u2019t feel anxious or depressed. \u2026 I don\u2019t feel anything.\u201d In fact, she describes it as feeling, \u201cvery nothing.\u201d
\nAfter her husband returned from deployment, she became pregnant and had to stop using everything that was prescribed so she looked to self-care options as an alternative. This included yoga, meditation, walks and focusing on her breathing.
\nIt worked. She felt great, even after giving birth. She continued her self-care routine and became pregnant with their second baby.
\nDeployment and mental health
\nMilitary medical research reveals pregnant women with a military-deployed spouse have increased risk of depression and self-reported stress.
\nWhite\u2019s second child was born two days after her husband deployed.
\n\u201cLooking back, I can say I was wildly depressed. But I absolutely didn\u2019t get treatment. I didn\u2019t have the time,\u201d she said.
\nWhite didn\u2019t want to tell the doctor that she was, \u201cthinking of leaving the house and not coming back.\u201d She didn\u2019t want to say she \u201cdidn\u2019t love being a mom and didn\u2019t like her kids.\u201d
\nShe was afraid she\u2019d be reported. So, she silently suffered through it.
\nThere are terms used in the military spouse community like \u201cholding down the home front\u201d or \u201cbeing resilient.\u201d While these are valid descriptions of the support spouses provide, they can also keep them from admitting they are having a hard time coping with the military lifestyle.
\nWhite\u2019s husband is an EOD technician. Since their marriage nine years ago, he has deployed four times. After noticing how depression impacted his wife, he offered to turn down an assignment due to his family needing him. However, she declined his offer.
\nWhite admits that she didn\u2019t want to be seen as \u201cone of those women who was unstable and couldn\u2019t handle her husband being gone.\u201d She felt pressured to be strong.
\nFinding support
\nOne thing White attributes to helping her during deployments is having a battle buddy.
\n\u201cI try finding a new battle buddy every deployment. I want to help someone. There\u2019s nothing like a first deployment because you don\u2019t know what it\u2019s going to be like,\u201d she explained.
\nMilitary spouses, Nikki Kling and Danielle Scarpello, who are also wives of EOD technicians, are part of White\u2019s support system.
\n \u201cI always feel like I\u2019m the only one aggravated about deployment, until Sara says something. Then I don\u2019t feel so alone. She constantly makes me laugh which absolutely helped,\u201d Scarpello said.
\nKling adds, \u201cBeing an EOD wife has it\u2019s unique challenges regardless of whether our spouse is on a deployment or not. My friendship with Sara began at a perfect time, as my husband and I were getting ready to embark on our second deployment.\u201d
\nBoth Kling and Scarpello didn\u2019t know about White\u2019s depression for a while, but Scarpello said she wished she did so that she could have helped her.
\nThe transitions of military life continue
\nBy 2017, White gave birth to twins and they became a family of six. Then, a year later, the White family relocated to Hawaii. Other than a one\u2013year training, this was their first move and she was leaving the place where she grew up.
\n\u201cA week after we got to Hawaii my husband deployed. I was alone in a new place with four kids,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was the worst depression I\u2019ve ever had. I gained 30 lbs. in three months and I was miserable.\u201d
\nWhite\u2019s time was filled with isolation, constant sobbing, grieving family and friends she\u2019d left, and a general lack of interest in life. She didn\u2019t care what she ate or how she looked. Her husband spoke with her about seeing a psychiatrist and when her mother came for a visit, she finally had the time.
\n\u201cThis new doctor listened to me for two hours,\u201d she said. The psychiatrist worked with her to find a good balance of medication that fit her life, but it wasn\u2019t a one step process.
\nShe offers advice to others who can relate to her experience:
\nDon\u2019t believe the myth that your depression will negatively affect your spouse\u2019s career. The military wants us to be healthy and strong and offers resources.
\nMake a battle buddy. Have them over for coffee and scones and tell them to be your friend.
\nLean on your spouse. I never want to be a burden, but I have to remember that he chose to marry me just like he chose to be a Marine.\u201d
\nFree counseling services are offered through Military OneSource by calling 1-800-342-9647. You can also reach out to your primary care manager for help.
\nThis article originally appeared in Military Families Magazine.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Depression is a common and serious illness that negatively effects how a person feels, thinks and acts, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Although more than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, some are still hesitant to admit they struggle with it because of the stigma it carries. When someone is predisposed to depression, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1445,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions\/1445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northernsentry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}