Bulletproofing the Psyche: Preventing Mental Health Problems in Our Military and Veterans

This book presents the latest in neuroscience and resiliency research alongside the personal stories of military veterans to advocate for an empirically validated training protocol.

In Bulletproofing the Psyche: Preventing Mental Health Problems in Our Military and Veterans editors Kate Hendricks Thomas and David L. Albright lead an interdisciplinary team of researchers, practitioners, and military veterans in calling for a new kind of training with a focus on "bulletproofing the psyche": psychological resiliency skills training. They combine research and storytelling to argue that somatic protocols, a training method long used in the treatment sector to rewire the brain after trauma and a proven, valid alternative to drug and talk therapy, should be applied to the prevention and training sectors. Contributors include leaders in the fields of trauma research, military social work, and veterans' health.

Students and scholars in the fields of social work, military psychology, social psychology, health promotion, organizational development, and institutional organization will find the research relevant, while clinicians, counselors, and mental health care providers working with military-connected communities may find the discussion of trauma treatment and intervention model transformative for their practice.

Proposes an empirically validated model for mental fitness training designed to curb an ever-escalating suicide rate among the Armed Forces

Presents a new approach that incorporates the participatory, hard-working ethos of military culture

Illustrates military mental health issues by adding veteran narratives to timely research and analysis

Details secondary issues affecting military mental health, such as the warrior subculture characterized by a high degree of community insularity and antipathy toward displays of emotion or need