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Mental Health and the Indian Armed Forces
Image for Representational Purposes only.It’s no news that the Indian armed forces have defended our country in gruesome wars and dangerous situations such as terrorist attacks more times than we can imagine. Often, we might not even know when a terrible threat has been dealt with while we keep living our lives normally. Unfortunately, forgetful humans that we are, we also forget the fact that the people protecting this nation 24/7 without meeting their loved ones for months and even years, are also humans who feel and can stress about their own lives.
The officers and soldiers of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force are constantly putting their lives at risk so that the citizens can sleep peacefully. But being a direct witness of situations like wars and terrorist attacks on such a frequent basis is sure to affect their mental health in some way or the other.
This article is to understand the stress-causing factors that can trigger mental health problems in Armed Forces personnel.
Psychological health is finally starting to get the attention that it deserves, but we still need to go a long way. So let’s keep learning and understanding the mental health issues and acknowledging our bravehearts even more. Although there may be several situations that can cause stress, the top factors for our armed heroes are:
Constant exposure to battles
War remains a theoretical concept for the civilian population. No matter how much we try to understand, we can never truly recognise its effects until we witness it first hand. Military personnel are constantly exposed to battles and lose lives on a daily basis. Seeing the people you spend the most time with die in battle can be extremely traumatic. This can trigger Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), that can further cause anxiety, insomnia, anger issues, and so on.
Unending threat of violence
Attacks from enemy forces can happen literally any time, in the form of extreme firings or bombings. So the military forces have to be on the lookout for such violent occurrences constantly. This can cause an unimaginable amount of stress and anxiety. Therefore, our soldiers and officers can experience mental issues such as panic attacks, depression, hypertension, etc.
Lack of proper social interaction
Keeping ourselves in the company of friends and family is of utmost importance for humans. Military personnel experience a lack of this fundamental requirement because they are positioned in remote bases for months. This makes them prone to domestic issues such as marital discord, detachment from their kids, and more, which, in turn, affects their mental health to a large extent.
Institutional problems
Another big factor for stress issues is institutional problems such as low income, poor quality amenities, and denial of leaves. Also, if a soldier is humiliated by senior personnel, it can trigger leadership issues.
Voicing one’s mental health problems should not be considered weak in any case, even if it comes from the most courageous of people like our military officers and soldiers. Our military personnel are not war machines that lack the ability to think and feel. These strains on their psychological health or worse than the civilians and ignoring them can have unfortunate effects that we may regret later.
Let’s acknowledge our bravehearts’ services more every day since they are not only putting their physical health in danger, but also their mental health.
This article is dedicated to each and every Armed Forces hero out there.