{"id":3845,"date":"2023-10-23T14:02:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T18:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=3845"},"modified":"2023-10-23T14:21:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T18:21:26","slug":"veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-41-no-8\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans at Convention learn about challenges of military psychiatry\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PEF
Members of the PEF Veterans Committee at the Veterans Luncheon during the PEF Convention.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 25, 2023 —<\/em> Many of the veterans among PEF\u2019s 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.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Wayne
Veterans Committee Chairperson, retiree David Krobe, welcomes PEF President Wayne Spence to the podium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who treated those veterans, sometimes they were their only family, I think that really hit them hard,\u201d Spence said. \u201cSUNY hospitals have not addressed that loss. I\u2019m hoping the Veterans Committee takes up that cause. I believe when veterans get behind a cause, politicians get nervous.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Demer took the podium to share his insight into mental health in a military setting.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a psychiatrist, it\u2019s kind of a unique situation between military and the outside world,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re given the privilege of hearing peoples\u2019 stories. People come to us for words of wisdom. What it comes down to is you realize you don\u2019t have all the answers. You just sit with the person and try to help them sort through their experiences and come up with solutions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 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,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a stark difference in how you handle thoughts of suicide or depression in servicepeople overseas, Demer said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 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,\u201d he said. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2023<\/p>\n

One of Demer\u2019s 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.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019t feel like an outsider,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Veterans\u2019 groups are an important resource for former servicepeople.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you serve in the military it gives you a sense of togetherness and shared experience that I think is so unique,\u201d Demer said. \u201cHaving veterans\u2019 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\u2019s not something we want people to forget.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Demer said he was struck with a new awareness of how people recognize the flag during his deployment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember, before serving down range, I didn\u2019t really have my heart in it. It was something we did since kindergarten,\u201d he said. \u201cI remember the first time down range how proud it felt to be an American. After seeing what life is like in Kandahar, I\u2019m grateful for what we have here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 25, 2023 — Many of the veterans among PEF\u2019s Convention delegate ranks gathered for a luncheon and to hear guest speaker James Demer, M.D., a PEF member who works…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-3845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-41-no-8"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVeterans at Convention learn about challenges of military psychiatry\u00a0 - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-41-no-8\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veterans at Convention learn about challenges of military psychiatry\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 25, 2023 — Many of the veterans among PEF\u2019s Convention delegate ranks gathered for a luncheon and to hear guest speaker James Demer, M.D., a PEF member who works...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-41-no-8\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-23T18:02:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-23T18:21:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/Vet-header.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ccanham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-41-no-8\\\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-41-no-8\\\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ccanham\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0677b03b1fcdadfe00f4e905b97b90e4\"},\"headline\":\"Veterans at Convention learn about challenges of military psychiatry\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-23T18:02:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-23T18:21:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-41-no-8\\\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-41-no-8\\\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Vet-header.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-41-no-8\\\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-41-no-8\\\/veterans-at-convention-learn-about-challenges-of-military-psychiatry\\\/\",\"name\":\"Veterans at Convention learn about challenges of military psychiatry\u00a0 - 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