Battlemind Training Essay

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Abstract: Dr. Charles W. Hoge is a researcher for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research starting his research on infectious disease in Thailand and Southeast Asia, then switching his focus to psychiatric and mental research of deployment after the 9/11 attacks. The main goal of his research is to improve treatments of PTSD and mental health conditions in soldiers and veterans spending a lot of time on Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and started working with Dr. Carl Castro in 2003 on mental health studies. In 2005 he conducted his first screening study to test for psychological irregularities and disorders in deploying soldiers which was the basis of the rest of his research and the constructed and content validity were demonstrated showing the risks, benefits, and future directions of the Army's psychological screening research program. Through research on PTSD …show more content…

Hoge and Dr. Castro wrote and published an article called “Battlemind Training: Building Soldier Resiliency”. This article was written to give soldiers a better understanding of stress and the effects deployment has on the brain. It was also the first article to try to help the soldiers manage deployment and limit mental taxation. “Battlemind is a Soldier's inner strength to face adversity, fear, and hardship during combat with confidence and resolution. In essence it is psychological resiliency. The objective of battlemind training is to develop psychological resilience which contributes to a Soldiers will and spirit to fight and win in combat, thereby reducing combat stress reactions and symptoms” (Hoge [2]). This Battlemind Training was the first of a few and were initiated in order to assist soldiers in mitigating PTSD symptoms during deployment itself. Dr. Hoge’s focus on better treatments of PTSD was shown through his help to others. Through this research Dr. Hoge makes it a necessity to educate soldiers and their families on the new developments that will help