Blog posts with the tag "Depression"

Staff Perspective: Social Isolation in Veterans - A Deadly Oxymoron

By Katrice Byrd  on 24.08.2022 8:30 am

Every year over 200,000 veterans separate from military service leaving them with a significant number of decreased social supports, leading many to experience social isolation. Social isolation defined, is a pervasive absence of intimate contact with, and support from others; but felt, is a sensation that is hard to shake. For many of us, we lived it day in and day out during the COVID-19 pandemic, feeling more like a repeat of the 2020 film “Two Distant Strangers” produced by Van Lathan, Jesse Williams, and Sean Combs (to name a few), than our introduction to the new decade. While we were fortunate to have returned to a routine of somewhat normalcy or at least a new normal, many veterans experiencing social isolation continue to grapple with its detrimental impacts.

Staff Perspective: Post-Holiday Blues – A Common “Seasonal Depression"

By Debra Nofziger  on 05.01.2022 3:57 pm

Ah, the post-holiday blues! We've all seen them, if not in others than in ourselves. Why do they happen? How do they actually make a lot of sense? This blog shares a way to explain this phenomenon that can actually help people understand their increased depression after the holidays in a way that lessens their potential guilt for having the blues.

Staff Perspective: Pandemic Environment, Combat, and Depression – How Memory and Tradition Can Help

By Debra Nofziger  on 25.01.2021 8:34 pm

The ongoing pandemic has created an environment of chronic stress, fear, tension and vigilance. While this is a difficult combination for all of us to experience, it can be especially difficult for those who have experienced this combination before, such as our combat Veterans. Traditions and rituals can help us remember more peaceful times and experience subsequent emotions, temper difficult memories from our past and stress of our present.  

Staff Perspective: Moral Injury – What’s New and How Far Have We Come?

By Jeffrey Mann  on 12.08.2020 1:09 pm

The concept of moral injury (MI) has become much more of a mainstream construct in mental health treatment over the last decade. In my research for this article, I reviewed my colleague’s observations and perspectives on the theoretical development, assessment and treatment. There has been rigorous examination, discussion and research on the construct of MI, its causes and remedies.

Staff Perspective: My Experience with Mental Illness and COVID-19

By Janis Flemming  on 23.03.2020 6:38 pm

Coping with a mental illness is always difficult, but the COVID-19 pandemic presents additional challenges. The author shares her personal story of how the pandemic has impacted her treatment and how she is practicing self-care. She offers helpful suggestions for those coping with behavioral health conditions and their support systems.

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