October 25, 2023 — Many of the veterans among PEF’s Convention delegate ranks gathered for a luncheon and to hear guest speaker James Demer, M.D., a PEF member who works with children at Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse, but during his tenure as a military psychiatrist deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to Afghanistan.
PEF President Wayne Spence addressed the group about the loss of many veterans at hospitals across New York and the toll that took on the health care heroes who treated them.
“The people who treated those veterans, sometimes they were their only family, I think that really hit them hard,” Spence said. “SUNY hospitals have not addressed that loss. I’m hoping the Veterans Committee takes up that cause. I believe when veterans get behind a cause, politicians get nervous.”
Dr. Demer took the podium to share his insight into mental health in a military setting.
“As a psychiatrist, it’s kind of a unique situation between military and the outside world,” he said. “We’re given the privilege of hearing peoples’ stories. People come to us for words of wisdom. What it comes down to is you realize you don’t have all the answers. You just sit with the person and try to help them sort through their experiences and come up with solutions.
“In my experience in the military and with children, the goal is to make people not dependent on psychiatrists or medications, but to help the person rediscover their own strength so they can move forward,” he said.
There is a stark difference in how you handle thoughts of suicide or depression in servicepeople overseas, Demer said.
“In the military, you have to be able to fire a weapon, to carry a weapon, and you have to be alert and able to wake up if something happens,” he said. “As a psychiatrist, when someone presents with thoughts of suicide and has access to a weapon, or when someone is having trouble sleeping and you want to give them medicine, those are very different in this setting than statewide.”
One of Demer’s first introductions as a military psychiatrist was the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon, where he provided mental health support to recovery teams. He noted a distinct disconnect from the servicepeople he was helping. There have been efforts to remedy that.
“The military has begun to embed mental health services into units so that people who provide mental health services, as much as possible, do the same training and spend time with the servicemembers they are going to be treating so when something happens, they don’t feel like an outsider,” he said.
Veterans’ groups are an important resource for former servicepeople.
“When you serve in the military it gives you a sense of togetherness and shared experience that I think is so unique,” Demer said. “Having veterans’ organizations that continue like this I think is so important because you start to lose the importance of what it means to serve your country and that’s not something we want people to forget.”
Demer said he was struck with a new awareness of how people recognize the flag during his deployment.
“I remember, before serving down range, I didn’t really have my heart in it. It was something we did since kindergarten,” he said. “I remember the first time down range how proud it felt to be an American. After seeing what life is like in Kandahar, I’m grateful for what we have here.”