Armywide TBI/PTSD Education Programs Begin Next Month

From Army Times:

An Armywide education program on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury will be pushed out next month to every leader and soldier in an effort to remove the stigma associated with asking for help with the stress of war. “We’re all worried about it. We’ve got to get rid of the stigma and that’s what this education program is supposed to do,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said Friday in a press briefing on progress in improving care for soldiers returning from the war zones.

The surveys of soldiers conducted in the war zone and on redeployment “are not as good as chain teaching,” he said, referring to educating all troops through leaders at every level. “I don’t want percentages, I want to know names and I want to take care of these people. We’re going to chain teach this in the entire Army,” Cody said.

An educational video and a comprehensive program of instruction will be released and put in the hands of troops Armywide, including in theater, he said, and “within 30 to 45 days every soldier will be briefed on how to recognize the symptoms.”