This episode was brought to you by HealthyWomen. This episode is focused on mental health in the military. HealthyWomen recently created a resource page for military women highlighting stories of women and the health challenges they faced in the military. You can check out their resource page here. This week we are focusing on mental health and our guest is Dr. Tiffany Lange.
Mental Health in the Military
Dr Lange is not a veteran, but her partner served in the military. And because of this it led her to work with the VA and when she learned about the work Healthy Women was doing it led her to want to be a part of Ready, Healthy and Able. In this interview we talk about some of the challenges women face in the military, specifically related to mental health. Because I have gone through therapy and learned a lot of tools for my own mental health journey I am passionate in sharing my experience and working to provide resources.
Stigma
One of the challenges women face when going to get help in the military is the fact that women as a minority often feel they have to prove they deserve to be in the military doing to role they are doing. They are also told not to show weakness. Getting mental health can sometime be viewed as weakness preventing women from getting help. But the truth is that getting mental health help can help you be your best self and make you a better asset for the military.
So how do you get help
One thing I loved hearing Dr. Lange say is to start by learning. You might think that you need to go to therapy to start your mental health journey but actually reading this blog post, listening to the podcast episode is really the first step in your journey. Some great additional resources are listed below:
- Military one source
- Tricare Mental Health Service Website
- 998 (Mental health crisis line)
- Cohen Veterans Network
- Other women veteran stories
Other topics covered in this interview are advice for women considering reaching out for mental health, what to expect during an initial mental health appointment, and why HealthyWomen started Ready, Healthy and Able.
