Vets break military's mental health stigma

After completing two tours in Iraq, a 25-year-old marine returned home to Illinois. Over the next three years, every waking day was a nightmare.

While walking through his old neighborhood, he found himself constantly checking rooftops for snipers.

Whenever he stopped at a traffic light, an SUV pulling up next to him triggered flashbacks of an ambush.

Friends and family described him as irritable; numerous nights were spent lying awake in bed; and waves of panic washed over him when he mistook a mail package for an improvised explosive device.

Not wanting to appear weak, he tried to work full time and attend school rather than seek treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder. He was one of millions of Americans with mental illness too afraid to ask for help. Three years later, he has finally decided to speak out.

The "Say it out loud" campaign, a three-year initiative sponsored by the Illinois Department for Human Services, is encouraging people to speak openly about mental illness and to break down any barriers preventing them from seeking support. "Say it out loud" kicks off with a rally Thursday at Navy Pier.

"One of the reasons for the campaign is to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health," said Tom Green, spokesman from the Illinois DHS. "The best way to reduce the discrimination associated with mental illness is interaction with one another and sharing your experiences and knowledge about it."

The rally will enlist a number of "storytellers," including a Vietnam War veteran, to share their personal experience with mental illness and how they have benefited from speaking out about it. One of the goals of "Say it out loud" is to establish a larger network of support for the thousands of people in Illinois suffering from mental disorders, Green said.

An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. That means one in four adults could be living with mental illness and not even realize it.

"A lot of mental illnesses are brain diseases, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and severe depression, and they affect people's judgment," said Dr. Joan Anzia, a psychiatrist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "So people don't realize what they're experiencing constitutes an illness; therefore they don't seek treatment."

Anzia's primary research is on PTSD, an illness becoming more prevalent now that soldiers are returning from overseas. She recently treated the 25-year-old marine, who is one of 300,000 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who have reported symptoms of either PTSD or major depression, according to a study from the RAND Corporation.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a life-threatening experience. Those suffering from it can re-experience the traumatic event through nightmares, flashbacks, or intrusive memories. People with PTSD will tend to avoid situations that remind them of the event and are in a constant state of alert, preventing them from relaxing.

In addition to the human toll, RAND estimates that PTSD and depression will cost the nation as much as $6.2 billion in medical care and costs for lost productivity and suicide.

"We already have several hundred thousand young men and women with trauma-related or war-related mental disorders," Anzia said. "And most likely, in five or 10 years, unless we do a really good job, we're going to have another population suffering."

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

To learn more about PTSD and other mental illnesses, visit the official Web site for 'Say it loud' at www.mentalhealthillinois.org. Beginning May 1, people also can call their toll-free number (866) 359-7953 for more information about mental health services.

'Say it out loud' Campaign URL: http://www.mentalhealthillinois.org
Mental Health America URL: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net
Illinois Warrior Assistance Program URL: http://www.illinoiswarrior.com
National Institute of Mental Health URL: http://www.nimh.nih.gov