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From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA) has raised the alarm over the rising cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among personnel of the armed forces.
DEPOWA President Mrs Anwuli Irabor made this known when she paid a courtesy call on the Chief Of Army Staff(COAS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya.
She said officers wives have continued to complain of some distinct behavioural traits amongst their husbands deployed to the various theatre of operations when they return home.
She listed some of the behavioural traits to include nightmares, anxiety, insomnia, burst of anger among others which were not synonymous with their character before their deployment to conflict zones.
She solicited for the establishment of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder rehabilitation support centre to evaluate, counsel and provide adequate support to officers and by extension their wives before being re-integration from the North East and other operational postings.
While noting that the military has a good number of hospitals across its formations in the country, Mrs Irabor however pointed out that such facilities do not provide thorough diagnostics services to tackle some of these emerging challenges relating to Mental health as captured in the 2015 United Nations SDG goal 3, a requirement for national development in the 15 year period.
To this end, she said DEPOWA hopes to collaborate with the Chief of Defence Staff and all the Service Chiefs to establish a PTSD Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Centre to effectively map, identify and refer health challenges experienced by officers and members of their household to appropriate channels. She said the facility when fully in place would also serve as a repository for future research on health challenges in the military to provide better solutions and support.
While commending the COAS for organising a seminar on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the armed forces last November, the DEPOWA president said this was coming at a time when the women have also prioritised PTSD as a major issue for officers’ wives across the country.
She said ‘majority of us wives can attest to the distinct behavioural traits such as nightmares, anxiety, insomnia, burst of anger, etc suffered by our husbands which are not synonymous with their character before deployment to conflict zones. This has heightened in the last decade, with a continuous flow of officers in and out of the various theatres of operation to curb the insecurity crisis, a challenge that we understand.
‘As a women-centred organisation, indeed our priority is our women but we cannot only focus on the women’s welfare if they are experiencing challenges directly linked to their husbands’ welfare and emotional health. “This is therefore an area where we believe that uniting our voices and collaboration is required to create the solution. I was pleased to see that as the COAS you have begun a campaign on sensitising the military on PTSD and I believe there is no better time to prepare for the next step which is the treatment.
‘DEPOWA intends through collaboration with the COAS, to provide solutions through the root cause analysis (RCA). We desire to have a re-integration structure for our officers and husbands to ensure that they return to us in good health and total wellness. I have proposed the establishment of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder rehabilitation support centre to evaluate, counsel and provide adequate support to officers and by extension their wives before re-integration from the North East and other operational postings.
‘The Armed Forces currently have a good number of hospital facilities across. military formations in the nation. However, our facilities do not provide thorough diagnostics services to tackle some of these emerging challenges relating to mental health captured in the 2015 United Nations SDG goal 3, a requirement for national development in the 15 year period. To this end, DEPOWA hopes to collaborate with the Chief of Defence Staff and all the Service Chiefs to establish a PTSD Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Centre to effectively map, identify and refer health challenges experienced by officers and members of their household to appropriate channels. This facility will also serve as a repository for future research on health challenges in the military to provide better solutions and support.’
In his remarks, Gen Yahaya commended the association for the visit and promised to collaborate with them to find a lasting solution to PTSD amongst personnel in the military.
