CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
December 12, Vol. 07-193
Registration Now Open for Training Teleconference:
Reducing Stigma for American Soldiers
The SAMHSA Resource Center to Address Discrimination
and Stigma Associated With Mental Illness invites you
to register now for a free teleconference training titled, "Reducing
Stigma for American Soldiers."
Date: Thursday, December 20, 2007
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (Eastern Time)
To register for this training teleconference, please
click here for our registration page.
Please pass this invitation along to interested friends
and colleagues. Please note: Registration for this teleconference
will close at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on Tuesday, December
18, 2007.
We will email the telephone number for the training
teleconference to all registered participants on Wednesday,
December 19, 2007.
Training Summary
Nearly 1.4 million men and women make up the existing
ranks of active duty military personnel, serving in
the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, but research
shows that America's soldiers may not seek help when
they are experiencing a mental health problem.
A 2004 study of 6,000 military personnel involved in
ground combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan found
that of those whose responses indicated a mental health
problem, only 23 to 40 percent sought psychiatric help.1
Many who did not cited fear of being stigmatized as
a reason.2 In June of this year, the Department of Defense
Task Force on Mental Health acknowledged that "Stigma
in the military remains pervasive and often prevents
service members from seeking needed care" and made
dispelling stigma one of their goals.3
This training will:
Explore research on soldiers, including veterans, and
mental health stigma.
Offer first-hand accounts from people who have
experienced mental health stigma in the military.
Provide an overview of strategies that may help to
promote mental health recovery and reduce stigma among
members of the military.
1-2 S.G. Boodman. (November 6, 2007.) The other wounded.
The Washington Post, last accessed 11/16/07.
3 Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health.
(2007). An achievable vision: Report of the Department
of Defense Task Force on Mental Health. Falls Church,
VA: Defense Health Board, last referenced 11/29/07.
Send in Your Questions
We invite you to send in your questions related to mental
health stigma in the military in advance of the teleconference.
Speakers will answer as many questions as possible
during the teleconference. Please send your questions
by e-mail to stopstigma@samhsa.hhs.gov.
Please note that sending a question does not guarantee
its inclusion in the teleconference. We will provide
the speakers' contact information so that you may pursue
your answer after the call. If you provide your name
and organization at the time you ask your question,
we may use it during the call. Anonymous questions also
can be submitted.
Training Sponsor
This teleconference is sponsored by the SAMHSA Resource
Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center),
a project of the Center for Mental Health Services
(CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. The session is free to all participants.
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page of the Center for Mental Health Services Web site at: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/consumersurvivor/
The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department
of Health and Human Services.
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