Depression and suicidal thoughts aren’t limited to vets with PTSD; family members may experience it as well.

… an excerpt from testimony before a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing held February 28, 2008, regarding the Iraq War’s mental health impacts of Iraq War on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans.

Nearly 3 million immediate family members directly impacted by Guard/Reserve deployments struggle with issues that active duty families do not. The Guard is a unique branch of the Armed Services that straddles the civilian and military sectors, serves both the community and the country. The Guard has never before been deployed in such numbers for so long. Most never expected to go to war.
Today’s National Guard and Reservists are serving with honor and bravery, each and every time they’re called.
At least 20 percent experience a significant drop in household income when our loved one is mobilized. This financial pressure is an added stressor. The majority of citizen soldiers work for small businesses or are self-employed. Some have lost their jobs or livelihoods as a direct result of deployment. The possibility of a second or third tour makes it difficult to secure another one. Guard members have reported being put on probation or having their hours cut within a few days of being put on alert status for deployment. Some of us have to re-locate. Some of us go to food shelves. Where we once had shared parenting responsibilities, the spouse left behind is now the sole caregiver, without the benefit of an on-base child care center.
Same Duties, Less Training
Guardsmen and Reservists perform the same duties as regular active troops when they are in theatre, but they do it with abbreviated training and, all-too-often, insufficient protection and aging equipment. It was a National Guardsman who asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld what he and the Army were doing “to address shortages and antiquated equipment” National Guard soldiers heading to Iraq were struggling with.
Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder
Secondary Trauma may occur when a person has an indirect exposure to risk or trauma, resulting in many of the same symptoms as a full-blown diagnosis of PTSD. These symptoms can include depression, suicidal thoughts and feelings, substance abuse, feelings of alienation and isolation, feelings of mistrust and betrayal, anger and irritability, or severe impairment in daily functioning.

Higher Risks
Half of the Guard/Reservists who have served in Iraq suffer post-combat mental health issues, and the government has known for decades that Reservists are at significantly higher risk.
Families Need More Support
Guard and Reserve families are generally left to fend for themselves during and after deployments.
The majority of the affected families/loved ones (parents, children, siblings, significant others, etc.) are beyond the scope and scale of mental health care and services provided by the military, the Veterans Administration, and Vet Centers.
When America chooses war, knowing that with that choice comes the intentional, inevitable infliction of suffering on its veterans and their loved ones, this nation enters into a covenant with the troops and their families. That covenant has been betrayed.
Within the grand scheme of history, the use of military force has always brought trauma. Throughout history, societies were accustomed to brutal scenarios related to vague political endeavors without fully understanding why. Understanding was a luxury exclusive to royalty. In the modern world, soldiers are better informed but discouraged from asking questions. Voices of soldiers families are lost in the noise of rhetoric and political priorities. Walking in the shoes of families whose income has been cut, whose family cannot get sufficient medical attention, is the ingredient for speeches falling on deaf ears. Physical and mental trauma will impact the psychology and economy of this nation for a whole generation. Todays American society has more awareness than its predecessors did for the impact of a crayola box of trauma. The permutations for mental trauma are more complex than physical damage, because it is invisible and difficult to track and measure. Physical trauma can be seen, you can expect mental trauma related to it. The pressure on families to assimilate invisible enemies is somewhat overwhelming. Without medical and mental health support, these families will perpetuate even more trauma upon their children and relatives and communities. The American Medical infrastructure is not equipped to handle the burden now, picture the next decade …

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