Mental Health Month: Bennie and Bridget’s Stories
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and Women’s Health Month. In celebration of this month let’s look at the mental health stories of 2 female veterans, from the “Make the connection.net website.” Both veterans experienced depression, anxiety, PTSD, and trauma.
Bennie joined the Army in 1968 and loved the physical activity and the chance to serve her country. She wanted to goto OCS – Officer Candidate School – but her hopes were shattered when she was sexually assaulted while running on the beach near her base in California. She was severely injured and became pregnant. At that time female soldiers couldn’t be pregnant or have been pregnant, so this ended her military career. She was devastated.
One of her attackers told her that they would kill her if she revealed anything about the rape, so it was many years before she told anyone. She raised her child as a single mother. She felt drawn to work in medical care and holistic health to treat her severe migraines, panic attacks, nightmares, and anorexia.
Years later Bennie went to a VA clinic for treatment of the migraines. While she was there a therapist got her to open up about the assault, but Bennie didn’t want to probe deeper. Later she moved to New Mexico and started a nonprofit to train service dogs for veterans. At the VA medical center in Albuquerque, she engaged with a doctor who was the right one to help her with her mental health needs. Tools like EMDR, mindfulness training, yoga, and tai chi became important healing modalities for her. She says, “All these things, they’re like building blocks. It gives you something to stand on” (Make the connection.net, 2024).
Bridget joined the Navy at age 18, serving as a helicopter air crewman. Ironically, she had a fear of flying but was afraid to tell anyone. She went through intense SERE training (Survive – Evade – Resist – Escape) and then entered into a romantic relationship in which she was physically abused. Between the SERE training and the abusive relationship, she endured over one hundred blows to her head.
When she finished her five years of service, she received no transitional guidance in how to cope with her experiences. No one told her about VA women’s clinic resources. When she finally connected with these resources, she experienced the benefits of psychodynamic therapy, DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
Her takeaway from therapy is that how we behave is not intellectual, but it’s an emotional response. There is a somatic side that bypasses the thinking brain. The VA helped her to find the tools to get outside herself. She learned how to face her fears and to connect to the community. Through the creative arts she has left behind isolation and found relationships and change for the better (Make the connection.net, 2024).
At MISNS our research, advocacy, and education efforts are dedicated to supporting female veterans and their families. We desire to partner with organizations like “Make the Connection” because we know that collaboration is the best way to support the veteran community.
Susan Sganga is the Media Specialist for Moral Injury Support Network for Servicewomen, Inc. and is a public health specialist located in North Carolina. She can be reached at 704-254-1548 or susanpsganga@gmail.com.
Resources
Make the connection: After sexual assault army veteran find her path to healing. https://www.maketheconnection.net/read-stories/after-sexual-assault-army-veteran-finds-her-path-to-healing. Accessed on May 18, 2024.
Make the connection: Today I am connected. https://www.maketheconnection.net/mental-health-month/today-i-am-connected.html. Accessed on May 19, 2024.