The Big 5! These are important issues today that deal with Medical Readiness. Find out the latest information about these hot topics and also find helpful tools and resources dealing with Medical Readiness and The Big 5!

The Big 5 of Medical Readiness are:
      1. Dental Health
      2. Behavioral Health
      3. Weight Management
      4. Injury Prevention
      5. Tobacco Cessation


The US Army Behavioral Health web site provides resources and information regarding mental well-being for Soldiers and their family members. Provided by the U.S. Army Medical Department, it is intended for interested Soldiers, family members, the public, news media and Army Medical Department Beneficiaries.

Check out the supportive videos for kids and teens dealing with the challenges of parental deployment. Connect now! http://www.behavioralhealth.army.mil/

Battlemind is the Soldier's inner strength to face fear and adversity with courage. Key components include:

* Self confidence: taking calculated risks and handling challenges.
* Mental toughness: overcoming obstacles or setbacks and maintaining positive thoughts during times of adversity and challenge. Batttlemind skills helped you survive in combat, but may cause you problems if not adapted when you get home.   Read more...

Mental health screening and educational materials are available at no cost to National Guard units through the Department of Defense Office of Health Affairs. The materials are part of the Mental Health Self-Assessment Program.

This new initiative offers National Guard and other service members and their Families the opportunity to take voluntary, anonymous mental health and alcohol self-assessments either through in-person events or with an anonymous, online screening that is available anytime.
National Guard units can use the in-person programs that provide educational handouts, screening forms, and promotional materials as part of their Family days or in conjunction with the annual health observance events: National Alcohol Screening Day, held in April, or Mental Health Screening, also known as National Depression Screening Day, in October.

"A new video (~16 minutes) provides valuable information to help recognize the signs and symptoms of problems that many Soldiers face in their day-to-day lives and after returning from deployments. It also gives good advice on where Soldiers and their Families can go to receive help. Remember, getting help is the smart thing to do for your health, your Family, and your career."

Justin C. Curry, Ph.D.
MAJ, MS
Command Staff Psychologist
United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine

Soldiers, Stress and Depression: Profiles in Personal Courage


Army Substance Abuse Program
https://sso.acsap.hqda.pentagon.mil/sso/pages/index.jsp
The Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) contains a wealth of resources for leaders, Soldiers, and civilian employees of the Army. In some instances family members are able to participate in educational programs on a space available basis. Most resources are available through the Army Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASCAP) web site, https://www.acsap.army.mil, which is the new single point of entry for all ASCAP applications. A variety of training materials is available as well as downloadable posters, and relevant instructions and guidebooks. Additional resources may be available through the ASAP offices on most Army installations.

Pamphlets/Brochures/Poster:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Publications/PamphletsBrochuresPosters/English/
Easy-to-read material for the public covering a wide range of alcohol-related topics including Publicaciones en Español

Newsletters:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Publications/NIAAANewsletters/default.htm
NIAAA Newsletter--Featuring information about NIAAA activities and events (published three times a year)

http://www.academyhealth.org/publications/frontlines/index.htm
FrontLines--Linking alcohol services research and practice (published twice a year)

Alcohol Alert:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Publications/AlcoholAlerts/default.htm
A quarterly bulletin that disseminates important research findings on a single aspect of alcohol abuse and alcoholism

Alcohol Research & Health:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Publications/AlcoholResearch/default.htm
NIAAA's quarterly, peer-reviewed scientific journal (formerly Alcohol Health & Research World)

Health Sciences Education/Teacher Curricula Materials:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Science/main.htm
New, FREE, inquiry-based, life science materials on the science of alcohol—all aligned with national standards!

Professional Education Materials:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Publications/EducationTrainingMaterials/default.htm
Publications for physicians, social workers, clinicians and other health care professionals

NIAAA's Health Disparities Research:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/BlackBag/BlackBag.html
From the 2003 Journal for Minority Medical Students --describes NIAAA research and training opportunities available for minority medical students.

NIAAA Strategic Plan, 2001-2005:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/AboutNIAAA/OrganizationalInformation/NIAAA...
This document describes the major goals and objectives, strategies for achieving them, and performance indicators


Combat/Operational Stress Control (COSC) includes programs developed and actions taken by military leadership and behavioral health personnel to prevent, identify, and manage adverse stress-related responses in units and individuals; to optimize mission performance, and to expeditiously return the unit or military member to duty. The Combat/Operational Stress Control web page includes materials from the Combat Stress Control CD-ROM developed by USACHPPM.
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/dhpw/Population/combat.aspx

Stress comes in all shapes and sizes, and it has become so universal that it seems to affect everything and everybody. Levels of stress-both physical and mental-and the ability to cope with it are different for everyone. http://www.hooah4health.com/mind/stressmgmt/default.htm
Combat stress is a natural result of the heavy mental and emotional work required when facing danger in tough conditions. Like physical fatigue and stress, handling combat stress depends on the level of your fitness/training. It can come on quickly or slowly, and it gets better with rest and replenishment.
http://www.hooah4health.com/mind/combatstress/default.htm

"Suicide Prevention, A Resource Manual For the U. S. Army" outlines an integrated, comprehensive approach for the Army Leadership as they promote help seeking behavior throughout The Army Family. The materials in this manual provide resources for local commanders to institute a total Army community thrust to protect the force from self-destructive behaviors.
http://hooah4health.com/toolbox/suicide/default.htm

Check out the quizzes and memory game at http://www.hooah4health.com/mind/4mind/default.htm.



Considering health and illness as points along a continuum helps one appreciate that neither state exists in pure isolation from the other. In another but related context, everyday language tends to encourage a misperception that "mental health" or "mental illness" is unrelated to "physical health" or "physical illness." In fact, the two are inseparable.

Seventeenth-century philosopher Rene Descartes conceptualized the distinction between the mind and the body. He viewed the "mind" as completely separable from the "body" (or "matter" in general). The mind (and spirit) was seen as the concern of organized religion, whereas the body was seen as the concern of physicians (Eisendrath & Feder, in press). This partitioning ushered in a separation between so-called "mental" and "physical" health, despite advances in the 20th century that proved the interrelationships between mental and physical health (Cohen & Herbert, 1996; Baum & Posluszny, 1999).

Although "mind" is a broad term that has had many different meanings over the centuries, today it refers to the totality of mental functions related to thinking, mood, and purposive behavior. The mind is generally seen as deriving from activities within the brain but displaying emergent properties, such as consciousness (Fischbach, 1992; Gazzaniga et al., 1998).

One reason the public continues to this day to emphasize the difference between mental and physical health is embedded in language. Common parlance continues to use the term "physical" to distinguish some forms of health and illness from "mental" health and illness. People continue to see mental and physical as separate functions when, in fact, mental functions (e.g., memory) are physical as well (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Mental functions are carried out by the brain. Likewise, mental disorders are reflected in physical changes in the brain (Kandel, 1998). Physical changes in the brain often trigger physical changes in other parts of the body too. The racing heart, dry mouth, and sweaty palms that accompany a terrifying nightmare are orchestrated by the brain. A nightmare is a mental state associated with alterations of brain chemistry that, in turn, provoke unmistakable changes elsewhere in the body.

Instead of dividing physical from mental health, the more appropriate and neutral distinction is between "mental" and "somatic" health. Somatic is a medical term that derives from the Greek word soma for the body. Mental health refers to the successful performance of mental functions in terms of thought, mood, and behavior. Mental disorders are those health conditions in which alterations in mental functions are paramount. Somatic conditions are those in which alterations in nonmental functions predominate. While the brain carries out all mental functions, it also carries out some somatic functions, such as movement, touch, and balance. That is why not all brain diseases are mental disorders. For example, a stroke causes a lesion in the brain that may produce disturbances of movement, such as paralysis of limbs. When such symptoms predominate in a patient, the stroke is considered a somatic condition. But when a stroke mainly produces alterations of thought, mood, or behavior, it is considered a mental condition (e.g., dementia). The point is that a brain disease can be seen as a mental disorder or a somatic disorder depending on the functions it perturbs.