A 2017 research study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)Â sampled almost 6,000 United States veterans and found that 13% were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is almost double the rate compared to the incidence of PTSD within the general population. Only 6.8% of the general U.S. population will experience PTSD at a certain point in their lifetime.
Lani Hankins served as active-duty Army from February 2011 to February 2015 as an Automated Logistical Specialist in a Forward Support Company attached to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment. She deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2012 to 2013 and was a member of the Female Engagement Team. Lani served as a Reservist with the 451st Quartermaster Company in Cape Coral, FL, from February 2015 to December 2016.
Hankins is a speaker and podcaster focusing on veteran suicide prevention, mental health, military transition, and bringing awareness to tough topics such as domestic violence and military sexual trauma. Her blog started as a CAPSTONE project called “Kruse Corner”. The name stems from a friends committing suicide after transitioning from the military – she talks about how she did and didn’t deal with the trauma and carried her grief for losing fellow veterans. “Every 6-9 months, someone was disappearing,” she says.
The podcast today talks about personal stories about life after the military, transitioning from soldier to civilian, losing friends to suicide, the VA experience, and learning to reach out to ask for help. Hankins notes that veterans (like herself) are constantly playing the what if and isolating themselves . She instructs readers and listeners to not go at it alone: “There’s a lot of support out there.”
MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA
The Veterans Administration (VA) defines “military sexual trauma” ( or MST) as sexual assault / harassment experienced during military service. MST includes any sexual activity that you are involved with against your will. But Hankins notes that PTSD doesn’t necessarily have to stem directly from combat or even while you were in service. She says that trauma can still be experienced from many different sides – like domestic violence within a relationship with someone outside of service.
Per the VA, “anyone can experience MST, regardless of gender. Like other types of trauma, MST can negatively affect a person’s mental and physical health, even many years later.” Symptoms or after affects can include things like disturbing nightmares, feelings of depression, issues with alcohol or drugs, feeling isolated from others, etc.
Hankins says that while active duty receive training on these issues, MST isn’t a common or well-known acronym within the armed forces. Resources and discussions surrounding things like MST need to be more accessible and even more talked about in today’s military to combat the instances of them, and make healing more manageable.
Subscribe to the Security Clearance Careers podcast for future episodes, and check out Kruse Corner for more veteran advice.
