Operational mental health. . .what practitioners and commanders should know

• Published in: International Journal of Social Psychiatry Vol. 70; no. 7; pp. 1234 - 1238
• Main Author: Deahl, Martin
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.11.2024; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Commanders; Medical personnel; Mental health; Mental health professionals; Military deployment; Professionals; Reviews; Teams; Field mental health team; Military mental health; occupational psychiatry; military medicine
• ISSN: 0020-7640; 1741-2854; 1741-2854
• DOI: 10.1177/00207640241261208

Background: Mental Health support to military operations is well established as an integral part of military medicine. Unfortunately, Commanders often receive little or no training in how best to use their mental health assets or what their capabilities are. Conversely, members of a Field Mental Health Team frequently have no operational experience and try to merely translate their civilian practice onto the battlefield. Aim: This article describes what mental health professional can, and should do on military deployments and calls for greater training and awareness of both Mental Health professionals and Operational Commanders to foster mutual understanding and use the Field Mental Health Team to best effect. Method: The paper drawson the experience of working in a Field Mental Health Team on six operational deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Results: Military mental health professionals work mostly in peacetime and this work ill prepares them for the very different type of work required of them on operations. Conclusion: More training is required to prepare both practitioners and commanders for the mental health issues that confront them on operational deployments.