Mired in Shadows: The U.S. Army’s Campaign to Encourage Mental Health Treatment

Abstract

The United States Armed Forces have been in continuous conflicts since September 11, 2001. For the veterans returning from combat deployments, the human costs have been immense and long lasting. Each of the military departments has developed media campaigns to encourage mental health treatment. This essay introduces the rhetorical issues associated with mental disability as part of the broader genre of disability rhetorics. It then examines the media developed by the U.S. Army in its campaign to encourage mental health treatment by employing the schema of analysis developed by Sonja Foss and situating it within the works on visual rhetoric by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Kimberly Emmons, and Riki Thompson. The article next contextualizes the images used by the Army into the cultural environment faced by soldiers. Finally, it concludes that far from encouraging all soldiers to seek mental health treatment, the Army’s media campaign is stigmatizing the majority of those it seeks to assist.

Notes

1 The security clearance questionnaire used by all branches of the federal government is called Standard Form (SF) 86. Section 21 of the SF 86 deals with Psychological and Emotional Health. Section 21.1 states: “In the last seven (7) years, have you consulted with a health care professional regarding an emotional or mental health condition or were you hospitalized for such a condition? Answer “No” if the counseling was for any of the following reasons and was not court-ordered: strictly marital, family, grief not related to violence by you; or strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment (emphasis added)” (SF 86) (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2010).

2 This work represents the views of the author individually. It does not represent the official views of the Department of the Army or other personnel.

3 Army Regulation 40-501, paragraphs 3–33, states that for anxiety, somatoform, or dissociative disorders, soldiers must be referred to a medical evaluation board to determine their fitness for service when: “a. Persistence or recurrence of symptoms sufficient to require extended or recurrent hospitalization; or b. Persistence or recurrence of symptoms necessitating limitations of duty or duty in a protected environment; or c. Persistence or recurrence of symptoms resulting in interference with effective military performance” (U.S. Department of the Army, 2017).

4 This is a decision the soldier must make for himself. If he is wrong, he could face negative consequences for a failure to disclose treatment. The incentive is to overreport because of this issue.

5 A soldier must obtain a security clearance every five to 10 years. A top-secret clearance is renewed every five years, while a secret clearance is renewed every 10 years (Baldor, 2018, p. 1).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

T. Scott Randall

T. Scott Randall is an active duty military officer stationed in Pinellas Park, Florida. He obtained his BA in History from Arkansas Tech University, Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas, Master’s Degree in Communication from West Texas A&M University, and LL.M. in Military Law from The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. He is currently working toward a PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric at Texas Tech University. E-mail: [email protected]