Alternative healing for US veterans and their families

War Wives at Greater Risk of Postpartum Depression

Sunday, 27 May 2007

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, the wives of deployed servicemen are at greater risk of postpartum despression and should be screened after giving birth. See the article below.

War Wives at Greater Risk of Postpartum Depression, by Denis Gellene

Women with spouses on military deployment during their pregnancies face a nearly threefold higher risk for postpartum depression in initial screening tests, researchers reported this week.

The findings mean that military wives should be informed of the risk and aggressively screened for depression during their postpartum medical exams, said lead author Dr. Jeffrey Millegan of the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

Postpartum depression is marked by feelings of guilt or hopelessness, and in some cases, suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Other symptoms include feelings of inadequacy about motherhood and nagging worries about the infant's safety.

Postpartum depression is believed to affect 10% to 15% of new mothers and can occur up to three months after childbirth. Antidepressants or psychotherapy are effective treatments.

The study, presented Monday at a American Psychiatric Assn. meeting in San Diego, looked at 415 women who received preliminary screening testsfor the condition approximately six weeks after their children were born.

One-quarter of the 90 women whose husbands were deployed at any point during their pregnancy screened positive, according to the study, compared with 11% of the women whose husbands were not deployed.

Researchers found that women whose husbands were deployed during their pregnancies had 2.7 times the risk of screening positive. The women who screened positive were referred for further mental health services. The study did not follow those women to learn whether they were ultimately diagnosed with postpartum depression.

Still, Dr. Vivien Burt, director of the Women's Life Center at the UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, said the results underscored the need for action because previous studies had shown that a mother's depression could leave lasting scars.

"The impact is dramatic and has a ripple effect on other family members," she said.

For Practitioners

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Honor a Veteran (HaV) focuses on the mind/body needs of military personnel and their families. We are offering a range of mind/body services in order to address a variety of needs for the individuals seeking services. Our definition of “family” is quite broad and includes but is not limited to the following: spouses, children, parents, siblings, extended family members, and unmarried partners. We are offering our services to anyone who is or has been affected directly or indirectly (through a relationship with someone in the military) by the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The individuals who seek services from HaV may benefit from different types of practitioners and healing modalities. We believe that most of those affected by these conflicts would not need the level of mind/body services they do now if not for the unusual and extreme circumstances within which they find themselves. Furthermore, many of those seeking services may not be familiar with many of the forms of mind/body therapy available today. Therefore, we recommend that providers describe their services in some detail for the benefit of those seeking assistance from them.

While the standard within the mind/body community is to meet with the client in the practitioner’s office, we recognize that this may not be feasible for some individuals seeking services from HaV (called "visitors" on our Web site). We encourage the use of telephone support in those situations where the individual is unable to meet in person with the practitioner. We understand that therapists and counselors will need to rely on their professional judgment to determine when such contact may be insufficient to meet the individual’s mind/body needs.

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Military Service Doubles Suicide Risk

Former military personnel are twice as likely to kill themselves as people who have not seen combat reports a study in the July issue of Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The results suggest that doctors need to look out for signs of suicidal intentions in soldiers returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Researchers in the United States followed up 320,000 men aged over 18 years for 12 years and found that those who had served in the armed forces at some time between 1917 and 1994 were twice as likely to die from suicide compared with men in the general population. The risk was highest in veterans who could not participate fully in home, work or leisure activities because of a health problem.

Veterans that killed themselves were also more likely to be older, white, better educated and less likely to have never been married than other suicides. Interestingly, former soldiers who were overweight were far less likely to kill themselves than those of normal weight.

However, a tour of duty in the military did not increase the risk of dying from natural or accidental causes, or of being a homicide victim. The authors concluded: 'With the projected rise in functional impairments and psychiatric morbidity among veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, clinical and community interventions that are directed towards these patients are needed.' '

Clinicians need to be alert for signs of suicidal intent among veterans, as well as their access to firearms.' The researchers found that veterans were 58% more likely to use a gun to kill themselves than other suicides.

The research was funded with a grant from the US National Institute of Mental Health Suicide among male veterans: a prospective population-based study Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2007; 61: 619-624. doi: 10.1136/jech.2006.054346 www.jech.bmj.com

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