Let's Keep ALL the Fort Hood Victims in Our Thoughts

This is an especially somber Veteran's Day after the tragedy at Fort Hood. Let's keep all the victims, regardless of their religion, in our thoughts.

On Sunday I wrote a piece for today about Veteran's Day becoming No War Day...and I was so excited by the idea I published that day by accident.

Oh well, we all make mistakes....so here it is again...my first "rerun." 

Make Nov 11th NO WAR DAY

Fort Hood: "It would be a shame if our diversity becames a casualty as well"

(prejudice) x (indifference) = (>prejudice)

Here is a clip from George Casey, Jr. the Army chief of staff on CNN speaking about the Fort Hood tragedy. While I think he is in denial about there not already being prejudice against non-Christians in the army, I was happy to hear him decry targeting minorities because of the apparent mental breakdown of one man.

If the shooter had been a white man from Kentucky who went to a small Baptist church, religion would have almost NOTHING to do with this discussion (outside of comments on if he did or did not attend services). Sadly, because he is not a member of the dominant religion in our simmering melting pot, that is almost all we are talking about.

As I commented on the Huffington Post this morning, the consequence of prejudice against one group is prejudice against another group.

Fort Hood Copy Cat?

The power of an event like this is multifaceted; sadly one common side effect is copy cat threats and sometimes, shootings. Apparently someone in Florida is on a rampage not unlike the one yesterday in Texas. How horrible for all involved...I hope this turns out to be a rumor or a hoax, but I am afraid that will not be the case.

Click here for the story

Vicarious Trauma at Fort Hood?

(talk of trauma) + (talk of trauma) + (talk of trauma) = vicarious trauma

In the media's scramble to understand the "whys" behind the Fort Hood tragedy, a great deal of discussion is being paid to the fact that the apparent shooter was a Muslim. While I am unsure of how, if in any way, his faith played a role in what happened, my thoughts go in a different direction. I wonder about the vicarious trauma that he must have faced counseling at the largest military installation in the U. S.

While more people are aware of how trauma effects humans than ever before, most don't understand the communicable consequences of this kind of trauma. Vicarious trauma is, per the Headington Institute, "the negative changes that happen to humanitarian workers over time as they witness other people’s suffering and need." While there are a variety of benefits to providing therapy this can be one of the darker aspects of the work of helping others.

Sitting and listening to patients day in and day out, especially in the pressure cooker environment of a major military base, full of veterans from two wars, has to be overwhelming. Combine that with how under staffed and under budgeted the military is with regard to mental health services and the fact that most men are loathe to talk about their feelings due to the stigma--wow! I am feeling overwhelmed thinking about the challenges men and women in military mental health must face.

Just two weeks ago Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that many military personnel fear a stigma if they seek help for psychological injuries. He openly criticized a government and military bureaucracy that is “frustrating, adversarial and unnecessarily complex." When the top man is that candid about the problem, it must be quite profound.

There are a variety of ways that vicarious trauma can be avoided and I want to know if any of those systems were in place, and how efficiently they were implemented, at Fort Hood. According to an excellent article from The Journal of Counseling & Development (email me for a pdf if you are interested) by Trippany, White and Wilcoxon, there are a variety of way that trauma of this sort can be kept at a minimum. Among the recommendations are keeping caseloads at a manageable level and providing therapy for therapists via peer supervision.

As this conversation continues, it will be interesting to see how those systems worked, and to what degree they did not, at Fort Hood.

Headington Institute

Gates comments on stigma