While Veteran employment issues have received substantial attention, the difficulties related to military spouse unemployment and underemployment have long existed in the background. Recently, multiple studies and surveys have turned the spotlight onto these issues and the individual and societal problems they present for military families.
In 2010, Congress designated the 27th of June as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Day. This has now expanded to the month of June as a whole. Even though more of the public has become aware of PTSD in recent years, there is still much work to be done. Many people still have only a vague understanding of what PTSD is, its causes, symptoms and potential treatments.
I’ve always loved comedy and gravitated towards individuals with humor and quick wit, whether in a friend, colleague, or comedian. I find that comedy and humor can be base, but in other moments incredibly stimulating intellectually and even emotionally powerful. Comedy can make connections between ideas and subjects that are seemingly unconnectable, it can short-circuit the brain into confusion and epiphany in a singular moment of time, dousing our brains with dopamine and contorting our bodies with intense laughter.
We’re heading to the end of May, but before we get there, we wanted to take the time to spotlight that this is Mental Health Awareness Month. With the increased societal awareness, the stigma around Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other behavioral health concerns has decreased, but it is certainly very much still in existence. Due to this, events like Mental Health Awareness Month are still very necessary to increase the knowledge of both the issues faced and the resources available to those in need.
Recent events where patients covertly recorded behavioral health sessions has brought these chronic concerns to the forefront for many providers. Providers seem conflicted about where they stand on patients secretly recording sessions. But advancements in technology have enhanced the anxiety as people can now splice recordings in ways that misrepresent what actually happened. For some, these advancements lead to the belief that secret recording should be illegal. For others, it is yet another factor in their conflicted feelings and the struggle between patient and provider rights.