Dr. Annie Murray is a United States Navy psychologist. She is prior USN helicopter pilot and a current staff psychologist at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD). I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit down with her to discuss her background in aviation and her thoughts on how psychology might relate to that community.
The “8 Keys to Veterans’ Success on Campus” was established in 2013 as a collaborative effort between the Obama Administration and the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Education. Included in the decision making of these steps were representatives of government agencies, non-profit groups, Veteran organizations, as well as individual Veterans, who had obtained college degrees. The purpose of these strategies was to guide colleges and universities in ways to support and serve our student Veterans. Since 2013, there have been hundreds of institutions who have committed to implementing these recommended strategies.
More and more people are becoming aware of the impact of smartphones, tablets, and easy Internet access on our ability to think, maintain relationships, and remain productive. It has even been proposed that overuse of technological media can change our brains structurally in ways that will, over time, rob us of the ability to think deeply and utilize our cognitive horsepower! This is a controversial topic, and undoubtedly people will have varying opinions, but no one can argue that various forms of technology are changing how we interact with each other. So, how does this apply to mental health, and the military specifically? Well, we know that healthy relationships contribute to good mental health, and conversely, troubled relationships create risk for mental health problems. Perhaps some of today’s relationship woes and mental health problems are a by-product of our increasing use of technological gadgets.
To learn more about this possibility in a military context, I interviewed Lt. Col. Kirk Rowe, an Air Force neuropsychologist at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
In my role at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP), I was recently asked about transitioning from military service to civilian life. The specific question asked was how case managers can identify a normal reaction to mourning the loss of identity due to leaving military service versus behavior that could be indicative of a clinical problem/disorder. I think it is a great question and one that many case managers, providers, and even Service members may have.
In a recent Op-Ed published by the Washington Post, Captain Benjamin Summers discussed how "hero worship of the military" and Service members is counter-productive. Dr. Paula Domenici takes a look at this article and examines how some of the same problems can arise during therapy.