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Cpl. Anthony Gray practices yoga with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 1, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, April 13, 2018. Over 100 Marines and Sailors with MWHS-1 participated in this event in order to build camaraderie and unit cohesion. Gray, from Muscatine, Iowa, is an intelligence specialist with MWHS-1. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alexia Lythos)
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Military Health System Mental Health Hub

Mental Health is health. The Military Health System has many resources available to help service members, families, or veterans who are struggling with mental health challenges.

Military families' lives are generally very different from others. Service members may be subject to frequent relocations, deployments, and stressful experiences due to combat and time away from their families. Families cope with additional stressors when their loved ones are deployed, managing family life on the home front. Traumatic events such as combat, assault, or disasters can have long-lasting negative effects like trouble sleeping, increased anger, nightmares, anxiety, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Protecting, optimizing, and defending mental health needs is vital to the well-being and readiness of our military force. Seeking help is a sign of strength and a critical element of individual performance and overall readiness. 

Find Mental Health Services Near You

You are not alone.

If you're concerned that you or a loved one may be experiencing mental illness, you are not alone. Mental health is an important part of overall health and well-being, yet mental illness affects millions of people worldwide. Mental health disorders include anxiety, depression, seasonal affective disorder, or more serious illnesses as bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, and more. Unfortunately, most people with mental illness do not receive mental health services that they need.

Do what feels right for you.

There isn't one way to think or feel or act. The important thing is to take advantage of all mental health care resources. Remember that every moment in time can affect you and others differently. Treatment is available, and it's okay to ask for help.

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Article
May 31, 2023

Confidential Mental Health Resources Available to Military Families

U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Christian Luna Salvador, right, a postal clerk with Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Installations Pacific, speaks to Tarra Brannon, a social worker with Marine Corps Community Services Okinawa, in a family evacuation drill during Exercise Constant Vigilance 2022 on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, on Oct. 20, 2022. The Military Health System offers many services to service members in a variety of settings in times of stress and anxiety. (credit: U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Thomas Sheng)

“Checking in on your mental health can be as easy as making an appointment with a mental health professional, such as a therapist or psychiatrist – and that can be done face to face or virtually,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Anna Fedotova, mental health flight commander, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Article Around MHS
May 26, 2023

Walter Reed Expert Shares Five Ways to Prioritize Mental Health

Dr. Diaz discusses the importance of mental fitness with U.S. Army Pvt. 2 Kaliyah Rowan at the Mental Fitness Information table during Staff Resiliency Week at Walter Reed. Diaz says prioritizing mental health is key to building resilience, and shared five ways staff members can do just that in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. (Photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jesse Sharpe, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center)

In today's fast-paced health care environment, it's more important than ever to prioritize mental health to build resilience, and in honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month and Staff Resiliency Week at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Dr. Kristine Diaz, a personnel psychologist, shares five ways staff members can prioritize their ...

Article
May 24, 2023

5 Tips To Start a Conversation About Getting Mental Health Care

5 Tips To Start a Conversation About Getting Mental Health Care

“How are you?” It’s a question almost everyone answers every day. Like most, your usual response is probably, “Fine, thanks. How are you?” But if you really think about it, are you fine? Maybe you haven’t been yourself in a while. You’re feeling sad, stressed, lonely, or just not how you want to feel. You’d like to start feeling better but aren’t ...

Article Around MHS
May 22, 2023

New Mental Health Care Initiative Improves Access to Care and Readiness

A room plaque for the 341st Operational Medical Readiness Squadron mental health flight is pictured inside the base clinic June 23, 2021, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. The mental health flight offers mental health services to active duty members and manages the Family Advocacy and Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment programs. (U.S. Air Force photo by Heather Heiney)

For more than a year, the Air Force Medical Service has been rolling out Mental Health Targeted Care, an initiative that helps Airmen and Guardians understand all of the available options for support and connects them to the right resource either in a mental health clinic or outside the military hospital with another supporting agency that best meets ...

Fact Sheet
May 22, 2023

Changes in Behavior, Personality or Mood Following Concussion/mTBI Fact Sheet

.PDF | 977.73 KB

This TBICoE fact sheet can be used by health care providers to educate patients with a concussion, or mild TBI, on how to manage changes in mood related to their injury. Patients and caregivers would also find this information useful.

Article
May 17, 2023

Targeted Care Pilot Aims to Match Demand for Mental Health Care

Targeted Care Pilot Aims to Match Demand for Mental Health Care

The DHA Targeted Care Pilot deployed to 10 sites in April 2023. The pilot, lasting six months, aims to alleviate the strained mental health system by matching service members to the care they need—wherever they are on a spectrum of mental health issues. Following the pilot, DHA will review results for the purpose of further refinement, continuation, ...

Article Around MHS
May 5, 2023

Brandon Act Aims to Improve Mental Health Support

The Brandon Act

Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, signed a policy today to initiate implementation of the Brandon Act and improve the process for service members seeking mental health support.

Last Updated: April 22, 2024
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