Targeting Self-Stigma in Returning Military Personnel and Veterans: A Review of Intervention Strategies

Dickstein, Benjamin D.; Vogt, Dawne; Handa, Sonia; Litz, Brett T.

doi:10.1080/08995600903417399

Cited by 119 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…These goals map to the work being done by a number of current initiatives such as specialist leaflets informing GPs about veterans mental health needs have been disseminated (‘Meeting the healthcare needs of a veteran’, 2011); a proposal for an increase in NHS specialist services for veterans is underway (NHS England, 2016); and a current national mental health campaign called ‘Heads Together’ has a particular focus on veterans among other specific groups. In future such interventions and health services may benefit from employing and training veterans as a powerful way of targeting veteran’s negative beliefs about mental illness and treatment (Dickstein, Vogt, Handa, & Litz, 2010). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways into mental health care for UK veterans: a qualitative study

Mellotte

Murphy

Rafferty

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: It is well established that veterans suffering from mental health difficulties under use mental health services. Objective: This study aimed to understand more about the barriers that prevent veterans from seeking professional help and the enablers that assist veterans in seeking professional help. It also aimed to explore potential mechanisms to improve veterans’ help-seeking and pathways to care. Method: The study employed a qualitative design whereby 17 veterans who had recently attended specialist veteran mental health services took part in semi-structured interviews. The resultant data were analysed using grounded theory. Results: Participants described two distinct stages to their help-seeking: initial help-seeking and pathways through treatment. Specific barriers and enablers to help-seeking were identified at each stage. Initial barriers included recognizing that there is a problem, self-stigma and anticipated public stigma. Initial enablers included being in crisis, social support, motivation and the media. Treatment pathway barriers included practical factors and negative beliefs about health services and professionals. Treatment pathway enablers included having a diagnosis, being seen in a veteran-specific service and establishing a good therapeutic relationship. Participants provided some suggestions for interventions to improve veterans’ help-seeking in future; these focussed on enhancing both veterans and health professionals’ knowledge regarding mental health difficulties. Conclusions: This study identified a number of barriers and enablers that may impact a veteran’s journey in seeking help from professional services for mental health difficulties. Enablers such as reaching a crisis point, social support, the media, having a diagnosis of PTSD and veteran-specific mental health services appeared to be important in opposing stigma-related beliefs and in supporting veterans to engage in help-seeking behaviours.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways into mental health care for UK veterans: a qualitative study

Mellotte

Murphy

Rafferty

et al. 2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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“…There are two types of stigma: public stigma and self-stigma (Dickstein et al, 2010;Rodrigues et al, 2014). Public, or external, stigma is a term often used to refer to the stigmatization of mental health issues (Dickstein et al, 2010;Harris et al, 2015).…”

Section: Stigma and Invisible Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Public, or external, stigma is a term often used to refer to the stigmatization of mental health issues (Dickstein et al, 2010;Harris et al, 2015). Public stigma of mental illness is a result of the public's reactions as a result of common stereotypes (Harris et al, 2015).…”

Section: Stigma and Invisible Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike public stigma, wherein individuals treat other individuals based upon negative beliefs, self-stigma occurs when individuals believe in the stereotypes and negative beliefs of others (Dickstein et al, 2010). Self-stigma can also be referred to as internal stigma (Harris et al, 2015).…”

Section: Stigma and Invisible Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some veterans believe that individuals who have served in the military are more vulnerable to experiencing complex issues related to mental illnesses and the stigmatization of such illnesses (Rodrigues et al, 2014). While veterans believe they are strong individuals, having depression significantly detracts from those beliefs, allowing one to feel weak and inadequate (Dickstein et al, 2010;Rodrigues et al, 2014). Some veterans also believe that the public not only stigmatizes veterans and their disabilities, but also that the public believes that veterans are responsible for the disabilities they obtained through their military service (Mittal et al, 2013).…”

Section: Stigma and Invisible Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Invisible Disabilities, Stigma, and Student Veterans: Contextualizing the Transition to Higher Education

Flink¹

2017

JVS

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As military veterans transition back into civilian life, the transition process is often filled with challenges. Some veterans leave military service having developed a service-related disability such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or depression. These invisible disabilities can further complicate the transition from military to civilian life. As military veterans with invisible disabilities begin the transition back into society, many enroll in college to retrain or start new careers. While many military veterans experience difficulties transitioning into civilian life, their invisible disabilities, and the often stigmatization that comes with such disabilities, can make integrating into college as a student a uniquely challenging transition in their new lives.

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Impediments to Mental Health Treatment as Predictors of Mental Health Symptoms Following Combat

Wright¹,

Britt

Moore

2014

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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This longitudinal study examined whether impediments to mental health treatment would predict changes in mental health symptoms (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and depression) in the months following soldiers returning from combat. Three-hundred ten combat veterans completed measures of impediments to treatment and measures of PTSD and depression symptoms at 2, 3, and 4 months following a 15-month combat deployment. Structural equation modeling revealed that greater impediments (a latent variable indexed by stigma, practical barriers, and negative treatment attitudes) at 2 months predicted increased PTSD and depression symptoms from 2-3 months (β = .14) and greater impediments at 3 months predicted increased symptoms from 3-4 months (β = .26). In contrast, evidence was not obtained for the opposite causal direction of symptoms predicting higher levels of impediments at the different periods. Possible mechanisms for the predictive effects of impediments are discussed.

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Targeting Self-Stigma in Returning Military Personnel and Veterans: A Review of Intervention Strategies

Cited by 119 publications

References 51 publications

Pathways into mental health care for UK veterans: a qualitative study

Pathways into mental health care for UK veterans: a qualitative study

Invisible Disabilities, Stigma, and Student Veterans: Contextualizing the Transition to Higher Education

Impediments to Mental Health Treatment as Predictors of Mental Health Symptoms Following Combat

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