Military Mental Health and Behavioral Health – MILT 475

Course Description

This course will present an introduction to the assessment and treatment of military mental and behavioral health issues, including Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and related stressors. Topics to be covered include “best practices” for treating depression, suicidal ideation, addictions, and other prevalent mental and behavioral disorders.

Rationale

This class is an undergraduate level presentation of the prominent mental health issues faced by military personnel, including TBI, PTSD and other stress-related problems, together with “best practices” in assessment and treatment. MILT 475, Military Mental & Behavioral Health, covers the primary issues that trouble so many of our returning veterans and provides information on types of intervention.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

The student will complete 4 Discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 300 words. The student must then post 2 replies of at least 150 words. Each thread must address the topic in a clear and concise fashion, using outside sources (quotes from course texts, other books, and/or journal articles) as needed to support your main point.

Research Paper: Reference List Assignment

It is important to plan your paper and produce an outline (though you do not need to submit one) to know what you will be saying and what supporting information you will need. For this assignment, you will be locating scholarly references to use in your Research Paper.

• This reference list should be at least 1-2 pages long.
• This reference list should be written in current APA format.
• You will cite at least 12 scholarly references.
• You will use scholarly articles published within the past 10 years for your references.

All references selected for this assignment must also be used in your references for your Research Paper, but you may also add additional scholarly references to the paper.

Research Paper: Draft Submission Assignment

The Research Paper: Draft Submission Assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plaiarism tool. This assignment will allow students to submit a drafft of the final submission and make any necessary edits prior to submitting the final assignment.

Research Paper: Final Submission Assignment

Write a Research Paper discussing an aspect of military mental health issues (including spiritual factors) from the list below. Provide more than just a secular viewpoint or spiritual perspective. Balance the paper with both a biblical worldview and theoretical perspectives. Integrate them using journal articles or book chapters on the topics as sources. Cite everything. The references submitted for the Reference List in Module 4: Week 4 must be included in this assignment as well.

Make sure that every issue is examined as related to military personnel. If you wish to use a related topic that is not shown here, you must seek and receive permission by the instructor by Module 2: Week 2.

Topics

• PTSD as a result of military service (non-combat causation)
• Combat-related PTSD
• Negative coping behaviors related to PTSD in the military (self-mutilation, eating disorders, sex addiction, gambling, suicide, extreme risk-taking behavior, alcohol abuse, abuse of illegal drugs, abuse of prescription and/or legal drugs). The addressed behavior must be linked to military personnel for a majority of the paper.
• Military service-related depression
• TBI from military service-related causation
• Military family mental health issues

Military mental health issues caused by isolation and alienation (families that have a service member deployed; a service member unable to be or feel accepted in his/her unit; the effect of frequent relocation on military spouse and dependents, etc.)

• Military sexual trauma
• Women in the military (mental health issues excluding military sexual trauma)

The Research Paper will be graded on thoroughness, content, and use of theoretical material and integration of biblical perspective.

• Points will be taken off if the body of the Research Paper is below 10 pages or exceeds 12 pages.
  • The title page, abstract, and references are not included in the page count.
• This paper should be written in current APA format.
  • As expected in a 400-level class, APA style and grammar will be graded very strictly. Proofread carefully before submitting.
• Include at least 12 current references in this paper. Points will be deducted for each missing current reference.
• These scholarly references must be from within the last 10 years.
  • The Bible and the course texts may be cited, but will not count toward the 12 required references.

Quizzes (4)

The student will complete 4 quizzes in this course. Each quiz is a combination of multiple-choice and true/false questions based on the assigned course reading. All quizzes are open-book/open-notes.