Service members, including Active Duty (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force), Reserve Units, and National Guard members, are referred to network providers for a wide range of medical care, including behavioral health services. Receiving care outside of a military treatment facility can be more complex than typical civilian healthcare.
I remember being a kid, maybe nine or ten years old, rushing to my best friend’s house after school to play Mario Kart on his Nintendo. We would spend hours racing around 16-bit rainbow tracks, smashing blocks, and throwing bananas. I didn’t realize then that gaming could be more than entertainment, or that for some people it could one day become a healthy way to cope with stress.
Have you ever felt anxious because you weren’t confident with how to treat a specific patient? Join the club! This anxiety with new professionals, though, seems to lead to low confidence as a professional overall. So how do you gain professional confidence? Is it in knowing how to treat each patient you encounter or something else? This week I explore this question and content that professional confidence doesn’t lie in “knowing what to do” but knowing how to figure it out.
Parts I and II explored how opioids act on the brain and how American history — particularly its wars — helped fuel cycles of addiction. Now, we turn to the present. This final installment of “Who Can? We Can, Narcan!” focuses on the lifesaving tools that can interrupt that cycle, from medication-assisted treatment to emergency overdose reversal. In the military and veteran communities, where resilience is both a strength and a barrier to care, these interventions are transforming how we talk about and respond to overdose risk.
Hopefully, the title hooked you. Now what am I talking about? And who is “us”? The “what” is conversations about firearm safety and suicide prevention. The “who” is healthcare providers. Let’s take a few steps back…