DEFENCE ‘ NEEDS TO OFFER MORE’
FROWNED ON:: Vetterran Shannon Meiin,, 35,, wantts morre emphasiis pllaced on postt-- deplloymentt brriieffiings.. A FORMER Townsville army private says the military’s post- deployment briefing approach doesn’t go far enough to help struggling soldiers.
Shannon Mein, who served for five- and- a- half years and took part in a 10- month deployment to East Timor, said Defence needed to introduce a higher level of screening to determine if soldiers were struggling post- deployment.
“The military’s post- deployment briefing isn’t adequate,” he said. “It scrapes at the surface. You basically tick the boxes to get out of there to see your family. That’s what I did. I just wanted to go home.”
Mr Mein said although he was medically discharged from the army in 2014 with a diagnosis of PTSD, he “still hears the same stories”.
“We used to have briefings all the time, before deployment, after deployment, talking about PTSD but that’s as far as it went,” the father- oftwo said. “If we had done, like a few days to a week short course, that was military- run to help look at people that may be struggling after deployment, the army may very well save a military career and more importantly save someone’s sanity or even life.”
Mr Mein, 35, is sharing his story as part of the Townsville Bulletin’s campaign to shine a light on gaps in policy and current care models within the Australian Defence Force.
The campaign aims to help improve the lives of current and ex- serving personnel and their families and stem the tide of poor mental health outcomes and suicide. He is sharing his story to highlight the need for ongoing support for personnel who suffer from PTSD.
Mr Mein said the stigma of mental illness within Defence was rife.
“There are people in Defence that are too scared to talk about mental health issues because they don’t want to lose their careers,” he said. “If PTSD is addressed, if soldiers get help early, the army might be able to salvage a career not just allow a person to bottle it up.
“It has happened on base to people I know. They end up taking their life because they don’t want to talk about it. It is something that is frowned upon by the military or in theory; they don’t frown upon it but it actually is.”
Mr Mein said although Defence had a PTSD policy “on paper” it was not particularly followed through at the ground level.
“When it comes to your chain of command, it’s frowned upon,” he said.
“My chain of command didn’t know how to deal with me, at all.
“I believed they didn’t worry about my health at all. It was me that had to push in the end to get medical help.”
Mr Mein said he could not speak highly enough of the Mater Trauma Recovery Centre.
“It was at the centre I got my PTSD diagnosis,” he said. “If a soldier identifies or has been diagnosed with PTSD they need to get them on courses such as those offered at the Mater Trauma Recovery Centre. The army is not equipped to handle it at the moment.”
Mr Mein said Defence needed to act quickly if it wanted to help reduce the number of soldiers being diagnosed with PTSD.
“It should be a fast process,” he said. “The army has to acknowledge that when a soldier has mental health issues, straight up you need to address it. If you catch it earlier the soldiers can be treated. If you leave it too long, irreparable damage has taken place.”