Some wounds do not bleed . . .
The theme for this year’s RSA Poppy Appeal, Not all wounds bleed, highlights the fact that mental health injuries are the most common, but least understood, of wounds suffered by New Zealand servicemen and women.
The appeal will culminate in Poppy Day tomorrow.
RSA national president BJ Clark said the RSA was committed to providing a wide range of help to former members of the military who have served overseas. And there was growing demand for support services, thanks in part to an increasing rate of service-induced mental health injuries. Best described as any persistent psychological difficulty resulting from duties, such injuries could be the result of exposure to trauma or stress arising from combat, operational duties in a conflict zone, or other traumatic or serious events such as civil defence emergency or disaster relief.
NZ Defence Force Medical Director Dr Paul Nealis said stress injuries occurred along a spectrum, the most severe being post traumatic stress injury (PTSI). Symptoms included reliving the event, including nightmares, flashbacks or intrusive thoughts. Sufferers could also experience avoiding thoughts, feelings or situations that served as reminders of the event, feeling numb or cut off from others, being easily startled and vigilant for signs of danger.
Mr Clark said appeal proceeds would help veterans and their families who were coping with myriad conditions brought on by service, transitioning to civilian life or in financial hardship.
New Zealand now had 41,000 veterans, more than at any time since the end of World War II.
“Many Kiwis would be surprised to learn that nearly three-quarters of those veterans served in overseas deployments since the Vietnam War,” he added.
“This younger generation of veterans have to deal with many of the same life challenges of those earlier generations of servicemen and women, but perhaps without the understanding of the public that they too have experienced some dangerous, stressful and personally distressing situations in their service for New Zealand. This can lead to the kind of mental health challenges that many of our former servicemen and women are dealing with on a daily basis.”
The Poppy Appeal was a time for New Zealanders to recognise that service, and give back to those who had made sacrifices and put their wellbeing at risk for others.
This year’s Poppy Day will be the 96th, making it New Zealand’s oldest continuously-run appeal, RSA chief executive Jack Steer saying its longevity reflected New Zealand’s long-held commitment to assisting countries near and far in times of conflict, in peace-time missions and other deployments in aid of others.
“While for most of the 20th Century New Zealanders knew that the Poppy Appeal was a key part of providing support to our former servicemen and women and their dependents, that is not so well understood today,” he added.
“Poppy Appeal funds can only be used to provide help and support to those veterans and their families. And that help is available regardless of whether they are RSA members or not. All funds collected by clubs locally is also deployed locally, providing care to those servicemen and women and their families living in your communities.” ■ Donations can be made online (rsa.org.nz/donate), at any ANZ branch, and via the NZME Pin-a-Poppy Appeal (text POPPY to 4622 to give $3).