Operation Healthy Reunion

Get the Facts

Mental Health America of Wisconsin is proud to champion Operation Healthy Reunions, a first-of-its-kind program that provides education and helps to reduce the stigma of mental health issues among soldiers, their families, and medical staff to ensure that a greater number of military families receive the prompt and high-quality care they deserve.

In partnership with Mental Health America and the leading military organizations, the Mental Health America of Wisconsin distributes educational materials on such topics as reuniting with your spouse and children, adjusting after war, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Facts
Mental disorders are reported in more than 26% of returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan (Government Accountability Office)

• 1 in 6 troops from Iraq met the screening criteria for major depression, generalized anxiety disorder or PTSD (Department of Defense).
• There is a sharp rise in divorce rates for military personnel: a 28% increase last year, and a 53 % increase since 2000 (USA Today).
• About 1/3 of the adult homeless population has served their country in the Armed Services (Department of Veterans Affairs).
• The Army National Guard, Army Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve accounted for more than half of all U.S. deaths in August andSeptember of 2005, according to Pentagon figures. In sum, reservists have accounted for one-quarter of all U.S. deaths since the Iraq war began, and the proportion has grown over time.
• 1 in 4 of the approximately 152,000 U.S. troops currentlyin Iraq, about half are reservists.
• According to the Pentagon's first detailed screening of service members leaving a war zone. More than one in four U.S. troops have come home from the Iraq war with health problems that require medical or mental health treatment.
• Almost 1,700 service members returning from the war this year said they harbored thoughts of hurting themselves or that they would be better off dead. More than 250 said they had such thoughts "a lot." Nearly 20,000 reported nightmares or unwanted war recollections; more than 3,700 said they had concerns that they might "hurt or lose control" with someone else (Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine).

Information for the troops and their families

Fact Sheets Returning Home

How to Get Back to "Normal"

When the Letdown Doesn't Let Up (new version coming soon!)

Being a Couple Again

Reconnecting With Your Children

Returning to Work

PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Coping With War

Coping with the Stress of Ongoing Military Operations: Information for Military Families

Coping with War-Related Stress: Information for Military Families and Communities

Helping Our Children Deal with War

Coping With Loss

Helping Children Cope With Loss Resulting from War or Terrorism

Bereavement and Grief: Information for Military Familes

Coping with Loss

Local Resources