The Combat Stress Intervention Program (CSIP) is a 3-year

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

-funded research program to study

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

issues experienced by veterans returning from

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

and

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. The $1.5 million study, which is managed under the Military Operational Medicine Research Program, focuses on Combat Stress Disorder,

Posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

, and other post-deployment transitional challenges. The study also focuses on developing resources and solutions for such veterans. The study is being conducted by faculty from

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

. Michael Crabtree, Ph.D. serves as Principal Investigator and Elizabeth Bennett Ph.D. serves as Co-Principal Investigator. Research partners include staff from

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, Conemaugh Health System, and Highlands Hospital. John Dowling, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, is the project's military liaison. Washington & Jefferson College's

Dieter-Porter Life Science Building Washington & Jefferson College is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, which is located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County, Pennsylvania est ...

serves as the project's headquarters. The project will develop strategies to use community providers and veterans' families to help, as many veterans are reluctant to use the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

for fear of being stigmatized. Strategies for training National Guard unit commanders, based in part on the practices of the

Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

, in mental health support will be developed. The project began in 2008, with the first phase including an anonymous survey of 1,500

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

and

Reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

members from

Southwestern Pennsylvania The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

to determine the veterans' needs. Outreach to the community included in participation in Veterans Day events at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

. Other events included hosting

Donald Meichenbaum Donald H. Meichenbaum (born June 10, 1940) is an American psychologist and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. He is also a research director of the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and ...

, an expert in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder from

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

. As of February 2010, CSIP had surveyed more than 750 veterans; while 43 percent acknowledging stress, emotional, alcohol, drug or family problems, while only 11.6% of that group expressed openness to receiving help. A chapter on "Unique Challenges Faced by the National Guard and Reserve" produced by the Combat Stress Intervention Program was included in the 2013 ''Military Psychologists' Desk Reference.''

References

{{W&J Military psychiatry Military medicine in the United States Washington & Jefferson College Anxiety disorders