Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Hello,
I am Dr. Marie Beatrice Hyppolite. I hold a doctorate in Health Science with emphasis on Global Health and master’s degree in social work. I have over 14 years of experience in the field of health and human services.
This podcast is primarily focused on mental health and the quality-of-life elements that affect it such as divorce, death, domestic violence, trauma, toxic relationships, and single parenthood to name a few. It is no secret that mental health challenges continue to profoundly impact modern society although not enough discussion is given due to stigma. Research has shown an increase of 25 % in mental health crises after COVID-19. It is important to have honest, uncomfortable conversations about mental health while being supportive. Although we are interdependent, change begins with the individual, hence “your world.”
I welcome you to join me on my journey and look forward to your responses.
Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Veterans Dealing with PTSD, Depression and Anxiety/Art Service and Healing
The hardest battles don’t always happen downrange. They show up at the doorway when a parent returns to kids who grew in their absence, in late nights where silence feels safer than speaking, and in the space between what the VA provides and what feels human.
We sit with Mr. Mark Mahess Bennett—veteran, social worker, teacher, and founder of Art of Valor—to unpack how PTSD, depression, and stigma collide with real life. He walks us through the early 2000s deployment grind when calling cards and grainy webcams made connection bittersweet, and explains why reintegration takes baby steps and a lot of grace. We get candid about race and uniforms: how a soldier can be welcomed by police while the same man in a hoodie is treated with suspicion, and how parts of the Black community view military service through a history that can’t be ignored. Out of that tension, he makes a compelling case for training, education, and leadership as benefits earned—and as tools to build stronger futures.
From there, we move into practical help. Group therapy creates a circle where veterans can hear “me too” and learn concrete coping skills. Art therapy offers a nonverbal on‑ramp for those not ready to talk, turning color and movement into relief and meaning. We cover the sobering suicide statistics, the growing openness to self-reporting substance use, and the role of technology and community events in getting veterans to care faster. Along the way, Mr. Bennett shares how JROTC and cybersecurity classes give teens structure and opportunity, proving that discipline and creativity can live in the same room.
If you know a veteran—or are one—this conversation is a map: where to start, how to avoid common pitfalls, and why connection beats isolation. Share this with someone who needs it, subscribe for more grounded conversations, and leave a review so others can find these resources sooner rather than later.
Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Beatrice Apolid, and this is your world. Hello everyone. Welcome back to a brand new episode of Your World with Dr. Beatrice Apolid. Today I am so happy to have Mr. Bennett back. I promised you that he was gonna come back. So he's here today. How are you, sir?
SPEAKER_00:I'm doing well. Thank you again for having me back. I appreciate it. It was fun last time, so I had to come back.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, okay. It seems that you look different than last time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, I'm wearing my hoodie from this. This hoodie is Art of Valor, um, A-O-V. Uh, and this is a shot of of uh the back. Oh, okay. And with it, so your company. Yes, this is my nonprofit organization. Uh basically what we do is is art therapy for veterans. Um, it's open to the public, but um I want to focus on the veterans at first because there's a lot of uh there's a lot of uh resources that that we don't know that we have, and we and we may not also we need more than just what's out there from the VA. Um as a vet myself, I want to create something that allows veterans to a place, a safe place to go where they can express themselves through means that may be a little bit different than what we're used to, than sitting down with a therapist. This is something that you can express yourself through art, and you don't have to be an artist to participate in this program.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, okay. And last time I remember you had a hat on, and today we get to see your full face, right? Yes. Okay, so welcome back. So we're gonna talk about VA. What do you want people to know about VA?
SPEAKER_00:Veterans Affairs is um an organization, I guess, for veterans to go to to get resources, to get mental health, to get physical checkups, to um when they retire, they or just when they come out of the army, they're able to go to get uh medical treatment or different types of medical treatment. Um and uh it's a re resource for for veterans. Uh some some veterans are not happy with the the support that they they may not be getting from the VA. Some are. My experience with the VA personally has been positive, uh, but I do understand that it's not a perfect system. So that's why I'm here to give an alternative or something to add on to the VA to help.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know whether there is a truth to it because I never conduct any research about that, but they always say it's it's oftentimes hard for those vet to find resources for, most likely for mental health, because according to research, veterans tend to suffer with or diagnose with PTSD. And upon finishing with their time or what have you, they may not have the resources available. Is that true?
SPEAKER_00:Well, the resources are there. There's a lot of resources for uh for those who don't know PTSD is a post-traumatic stress syndrome. Uh there are a lot of uh resources for veterans to get the help that they need. It's just the problem is the veterans don't know about how to go about getting those resources. So there are uh uh uh methods and ways for veterans to find this. There's a lot of things online. Uh right now the the resources are are easy to find, easier to find. It's just a matter of doing a little bit of background check and researching what what is available to veterans. But yeah, a lot of veterans are suffering in silence. They they they there's a stigma attached to uh dealing with with their mental health. Um they they may not know how to deal with their their feelings and emotions, or they may know, they may not want to, you know, based on their current situation.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. What are some common challenges that Veteran normally face dealing with depression or PTAZ?
SPEAKER_00:Uh the a lot of the problems stem from not getting the support from their families. Uh people feel like, you know, you you went over to Iraq, for example, or Afghanistan, you survived all that spot the years plus change in in Iraq dealing with with all this, and then you come back here and you can't even deal with the simple things. So it's like it's it's it's a lot of dynamics uh mentally that people don't realize what the veterans go through.
SPEAKER_01:They don't know because you experience while you are what you know, like you experience a lot.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. They experience a a lot of different things, and and and but you'd be surprised. Like being able to navigate the the world of of being deployed, um that's something that we we veterans are are able to uh adjust our brain to, but then having to come back to your family life, it's it's it's a challenge. You know, your your spouse may have been used has a whole year with the the children and and and and experiencing life without you in the in the in the equation. And now you're coming back as the father, as the man of the house. This is the for the males. Now women also have experience as well. We can talk about that as well. We'll talk about that. But for the males that have a family, they come back and now they they have to cut they have to reintegrate themselves back into the family environment and being used to the the being the male of the house, then I it it it's hard for them to adjust to taking the back seat a little bit, at least depending on the age of the kids or in general. Just in general.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Just in general, like you know, um that that happened to me. So I've been deployed twice. The first time, you know, they gave us briefings and everything. They the army did a good job, but it's one thing to sit in a briefing, it's another to experience it. You do come back and you're like, the kids are are are like used to you not being there. They're they're they they your wife has been holding it down for a whole year, you know, and they've been taking the school, they've been the ones dealing with birthdays and and sometimes it may be born while you play away. Yeah, kids learning to walk and talk, and or whatever the ages are, whatever's going, whatever happened that year, you missed a lot. You missed almost, you missed everything. You miss holidays, you miss, you miss um graduations, you miss uh birthdays, you you know, you you miss a lot. So when you come back into this, into the fold, you're trying to figure out how to get back into it, and you and you're already dealing with what you just went through, experienced, and seeing your friends and your and your partners uh you know suffer and and and and die. And then now you're coming back, and now you have to deal with all those, those, those, uh, that trauma, and then now you have to also figure out how to reintegrate myself back into my family in a in a healthy way. You know, and sometimes dealing with both of those, it doesn't work. It doesn't work. So you're coming back and you're like, you know, I'm the I'm the man of the house. Well, it's it's and then the woman's like, yeah, but you ain't been here.
SPEAKER_01:So you basically have to consider taking baby steps.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, baby steps. And it's easier said than done. The second time I was employed, it was a little bit out of experience in that. I knew going into it, like, okay, you I can't just go up in the house thinking, you know, I'm back, and everything falls back the way it was. And be the man that you're supposed to be. Yeah, and and you don't understand that why your kids are not, you know, looking at you the way you want them to, which is as the the the breadwinner or the the man in the house, the the foundation.
SPEAKER_01:But Mr. Bennett, while you are away, don't you have the opportunity to communicate with your family?
SPEAKER_00:You do. Now, now also you gotta remember uh when I was deployed, it was 2004. So the communications system was was a little different. Back then, we were still using uh calling cards. Cell phones wasn't a thing. There was no FaceTime. Yeah, yeah. So matter of fact, um at that time, uh what they call it, the the the uh the cams, webcams was just invented. It just came out, so that was a new thing. So putting the camera, now uh the computers are built in with the the cameras built in. Back then we had a little um uh cyber cafe, as we called it, where we put together these computers so that kid people can communicate to their families. Um Facebook wasn't even invented yet. You know what I mean? So that's how the era I'm talking about. So as far as how it is now, I I I've been I've been retired since 2021. So I can't speak on that, but we you know maybe we can you could have a younger veteran come in and have that conversation, how it's how it is now. But referring to 2024, the the communication wasn't as as uh crystal clear as it is now. And also we were uh a first cab unit, so we were in deep in the heart of it. So uh ComSact, communication security, ComSAC was very important. So we had to be careful of how much communication was going back and forth because we don't want the enemy to know and to tap into where we were or something like that.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, safety was uh a big component.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So so we had to, it was very, it wasn't, it wasn't um easy to communicate as much as it is today. You know, but uh again, I don't know what they're doing now. You know, uh I don't know if they saw how they're using cell phones or you know, we didn't have cell phones. We had the call-in card. Calling card was like a goal, was gold. Having a calling card with a certain amount of minutes on it to give us a certain amount of time to talk and get to communicate real quick with your family. I mean, we, you know, I spoke with my wife and my kids, and my kids were young at the time. Um, and we got to see each other on this very grainy, badly communication system with the you know, um, FaceTime. It wasn't even called FaceTime at the time, but it was FaceTime before FaceTime was FaceTime. Toward the computer, not to your computer. Yeah, it was to a computer, but it was this, the, the, the unit set this up where it was like, okay, you get to talk to your family. So it wasn't like I'll get to be on my little personal computer talking to my family FaceTime. It was like you can get to talk to your family, and you you had to wait online and it was timed. Um, we was in different time zones, and my my wife got my sons together, and and I don't even know where she went to um to do it. I guess she went on base, I don't know what. But I'm sitting there, I sit down in a place like this, camera's there, and like, and then on the screen pops my family, and it's very grim and blurry and stuff. And it was like, hey, Baba, they call me Baba, and it was like, hey, and we talked for half a second and it was gone. It was like, and then you have to wait a long time for that to happen again. And I think that that's worse than not speaking to them. You know what I mean? Like seeing them for that half a second, it's like, oh my kids, my my wife, and it's like, okay, time's up, and it's like, now you're sad. You know what I mean? Like, I just saw my family.
SPEAKER_01:Both were you sad, your wife's sad, their kids sad, they wanted to act like that. Yeah, I don't know what they went through.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I don't know what they went through, but yeah, you gotta talk to my wife on that one. But I know for me, it was like that was like sad, and then you then you get um uh you get to go home for for a I think a week, and then you know, you you do get to go home. And I think going home while they yeah, yeah, while you're deployed, you get a moment to go home and I forgot what they call it, but they you go home and uh you come back, you know, after like let's say let's say it's a week. You go home and you spend a little week with your family and stuff like that, and you gotta go back. That that going back, that that during that break is worse than when you first get deployed, in my opinion. It's like you don't want to go back to Iraq. You're like, you know, uh that little week you get is is was was was you know, like it was it was like this little moment of of um joy that you you then you got to cut it short and then go back. So it was like some part of me was like, I wish I didn't go back because now it's worse. Now I'm going now for the next six months, it's like six months into it, you do that, and six months you go, you know another six months left.
SPEAKER_01:It's like you're like now you're gonna leave your family again and and go and experience the same thing over and over.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So it was like, you know, I wonder if it would have been easier to just not go back for that that week. People have to sacrifice a lot. Yes. You know, when they served. Right. And both and both sides. A lot of I don't think a lot of soldiers know how much the spouse sacrifice. You know, I mean, we we only see our side, the what the the spouse sacrifices alive.
SPEAKER_01:A lot, yeah. You know, knowing that you have a husband somewhere, but you are still raising those kids on your own.
SPEAKER_00:Well, she and she has to maintain that household and and keep the continuity. And my kids were young, so they she has to make it so that they're not like you know, uh too broken up or uh like they they she has a mission to not make it where they uh she was fulfilling both roles. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Your role and and her world.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, so it's difficult.
SPEAKER_01:It's not an easy thing, you know, to be called a veteran. Man, thank you. Thank you so much for your service. Oh, thank you. Oh wow, you know, not too many people know about the struggle that veterans go to.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And I don't have enough word to really thank you for the time that you put in and the service that now since you've been out or retired. So how do you feel?
SPEAKER_00:I feel good. And I feel like I want to give back. So, you know, that's why um I I teach JRTC, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, to the high school student. So I've seen.
SPEAKER_01:So you became a social worker after you you retired?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, and co-social worker and and a teacher.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00:And so I teach high school.
SPEAKER_01:Um why social work, if I may ask. Again, to be a carriers, we must have a social worker myself.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes, and thank you for what you do. You know, working without without uh gentlemen in in Rikers, right? And that's when you work at Rikers. Um Yeah, so thank you for that. Because we need that too. And that's a whole nother podcast right there. But um, yeah, so the reason why, well, it's it's a kind of a long story, but but to to answer your question, the reason why it's social work is because that's again, I always want to give back. I want to get I want to be able to um do something where I'm able to make a difference in our community, whether it's veterans, whether it's black boys, like our last podcast, whether it's you know, working with students, whether it's working with prisoners or incarcerated, um, you know, working with brothers on the on the block. You know, social work gives me the opportunity to work with all of those those uh uh uh those those uh groups that you know as a social worker, I can do all that. And then I can, I'm an artist as well, so I'm able to incorporate uh art therapy. That's what that brings that's where art of valor comes in. Art of Valor is my my organization.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. And you also teach? Yes. In high school or elementary. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, teach high school. Uh and I and so I'm doing a GRTC uh junior reserve office training corps, but I'm also teaching underneath the GRTC uh moniker, I'm also teaching cybersecurity, which is what we talked about in our last podcast about having our young black boys uh work with with uh tech and getting into STEM and knowing that it's more to us than just what society dictates what we are as black men.
SPEAKER_01:What are some effective ways to support veterans in their wake-over journey? Because based on what you just explained, it's not an easy life. It's a task that people choose to take on, but it's not easy.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So how can we support our veterans? Um one, educ educate ourselves in in what it is that we do. You know, what what does it mean to be a veteran? Because I know uh being a black man in this country as a veteran is a is a lot different than any than a non-black person, a black man, you know, because um it's we're viewed differently, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Um in what way?
SPEAKER_00:So it depends on which angle you're looking at, right? So if we look at it from the black community towards a veteran, and you look at the white community towards veterans, it's different, right? So I know like I'll I'll I'll give you the dynamics this way. My experience with police officers uh in New York, with with with um as a civilian, when I'm dressed like this, hoodie, hat, whatever, um, they the the the cops look at me as a thug. They they don't know me, I'm not a thug, never been, never claimed to be, but they see me differently. They communicate to me differently. They look at me, um if I walk up to them, they they they they they their guard is up. When I was recruiting in the army and I had my uniform on, it was almost as if I was wearing an invisible cloak. It was almost as if they didn't see a black man, they saw a soldier. So then it was like they opened up to me. So I was able to communicate with police officers when I was a recruiter in New York with a uniform in ways I could never communicate with them before. And on the flip side, I'm dressed like this talking to a black man, they they open up to me. They like, oh okay, look, you know, what's up, brother? Whatever. I could talk to people. But then when I walk up to them with uniform on, it's the opposite.
SPEAKER_01:They look at me why you think, you know, adopt me.
SPEAKER_00:Well, why why do I think, okay, well, well, first let me say that they saw me as a sellout. They're like, oh, you you fight in a white man's war, is what I used to hear a lot. You know, you you know, you why you as a white, as a black man, what would what why you join the army, you're a sellout. So so now I'm getting negative from my people. And the reason to answer your question, why I think that is They don't see their country. Yeah, they don't see the country. They don't respect the idea of fighting for this country. And rightfully so. This country has not been good to us. That's the truth. So I could understand that. I'm not even mad at that. You know what I mean? Um, I felt that way at one point, you know. Um, but to answer your question why I think that is, is that our experience, our meaning black men, black people, but I'll specifically say black men, our experience with the uniform, the uniform meaning military or even police uniform, or just the uniform in general, has been negative. Our experience has not been good. And I'm generalizing, not everyone has gone through this, but for the most part, black men have had negative experience with military uniform. Uh whether it's when we when we went to Vietnam, we we would come back, and you know, we'd be experienced racism in the unit, in the from the from our our fellow cadet, our fellow soldiers, and then we come home from the war and then still get back experiencing negativity from uh from the civilians. So I our experience with with the uniform is way different than a white man's experience with the uniform.
SPEAKER_01:Emotionally, what what impact that has on you?
SPEAKER_00:On me personally, it's it's it's well talking about Vietnam, obviously I'm not old enough to experience that, but seeing that and knowing that that that experience is like it's it's it's it's it angers me, you know. Um also, you know, but at the same time, there's there's there's there's so many layers to it. There's a lot of things that non-whites, non-blacks have to, don't have to go through, you know, whether it's racism and whether it's it's discrimination, whether it's it's uh uh just you know not understanding. Even someone, a liberal white man who is really considers themselves an ally to us, genuinely experience, you know, feel that they're an ally, they don't even understand the dynamics of what it is to be a black man with the uniform, with or without the uniform. So on both sides, we don't get to um, we don't have the luxury of just being a soldier and just serving our country and saluting the flag and and singing the national anthem and just could keep it moving. We have to look at everything else. We have to look at everything while they don't have to look at that. We have to know that there's a second verse in the national anthem that talks about racism, that talks about black men joining the fight and and dying on the other side, you know, of the war. That's a whole nother story. But, you know, there's a whole other verse. Why did that verse exist? And why did why they cut it out? And now they expect us to sing it and salute it and and and um respect it, and then when we don't, we're looked at as as being rebellion, being rebellion, rebellious, or being um uh anti, anti, uh uh, I don't know. It's just it's it's it's a lot that we have to deal with, you know. So we have to be able to figure out why we always gotta understand the whys. Why do we do the things we do? Why would a black man join this army and this world in this United States when the United States was not kind to us?
SPEAKER_01:If you were to give that and the answer for why.
SPEAKER_00:For me, it's seeing the bigger picture, right? Um, for one, we helped build this country, so we deserve to reap the benefits of this country as well as anyone else, right? This country would not exist without us. Yeah, yes, indeed. Yeah, so we, you know, and and you know, uh we deserve to get those benefits. Also, the training. The training that you get from the army is unlike any other training you would get outside of in the civilian world. Um, and when I was recruiting, I remember I was recruiting in Jersey, I was walking down the street in my uniform, and a brother came up to me and was like, hey, brother, let me ask you a question. You know, you think it was worth it when, you know, with joining the army wearing the uniform? So, and I said, you know, yeah, it was worth it. Because I and he said, but you, yeah, but you you're selling out, you you, you fight in the white man's war. I said, you I said, how do you feel about the Black Panthers? He said, I love the Black Panthers. He said, did they say, where do you think they got their training from? How do you think they trained, how they got they got their initial training to work with military weaponry and took that training to the community and taught the community. So having learning how to take an M16 apart and put it, clean it, put it back together, and learn how to shoot, you know, accurately is a an important skill to have that the military trained me on.
SPEAKER_01:And and train you on how to protect as well.
SPEAKER_00:How to protect my family, how to protect my community, and how to protect the country and myself, you know. Um, so so there's there's value to what I got out of the army. Also, this being the It also taught you discipline, right? Well, I think I always had it, but yeah, it it taught me how to fine-tune my discipline. It taught me how to to be strategic, right? How to train, how to lead, how to be a leader, you know, um physic, how to be physically fit, you know, how to maintain my health, how to maintain, you know, now, you know, and then and and I would never would have found my my calling to be a social worker if it wasn't for the military. That's a whole nother story, too.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, so that's why you still look six in.
SPEAKER_00:Well, how about that? But thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, I think so. Um, it has to do with diet too. Um, but I don't know, I guess. Maybe it's just my genetics, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so very important. Good to know. Thank you. So, what barriers do veterans face when seeking mental health care? And how can we address these obstacles?
SPEAKER_00:Uh I I think the obstacles are just the not of not knowing, not knowing where to go. Um, so what we need to do is be able to make the resources readily available, easy to find. Um, and I'm I'm now building my my nonprofit organization to a point where, you know, like I said, it's it's kind of new. But eventually it's going to be a place where you on my website, which is autovala.org, you can go there and find resources. The resources is there. Because it's not just about me, it's about the the other organizations that there are a lot of organizations out there for veterans. So the the barriers are is the is the lack of knowledge, the lack of knowing. So we need to get that resources and those links to the veterans and let them know this is where you can go to find this information.
SPEAKER_01:Prior, you mentioned, you know, like when you joined the army, there was uh the technology was not that advanced. And uh now this is uh 21st century. Right. A different ball game. What role can technology play in increasing access to mental health support to veterans?
SPEAKER_00:That that's it right there. Um being able to have being able to have an interconnectedness of communication to where veterans can go and you know online, whether it's social media, whether it's you know, um you know, uh uh uh Facebook, Instagram. Um I don't want to date this interview too much because things come and go so much that but you know having this using social media as a as a as a uh a playground for being able to communicate the interconnectedness of where where the resources are. So we can we can use social media for that purpose. It can be used for good, it can be used for evil. I think we use it for good.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so it's like we have to choose what we want to use it for. Exactly. Okay, so uh before I continue with the questions, I want to read some statistics about this subject. In terms of uh PTAZ prevalence, approximately 11 to 20 percent of veterans who serve in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer with PTAZ. Around 30% of Vietnam veterans have PTAZ, and about 7% of veterans receiving VAK are diagnosed with PTAZ. So PTAZ tends to be pretty common within that population. Can you explain the reason why?
SPEAKER_00:Because uh the things that you've experienced is is untreated. You know, you seeing, well, I'm not gonna get graphic, but no, seeing things uh is traumatic, you know, or even not just seeing, but going through it, you know. Some veterans uh experience, whether they were deployed or not, like the deployed veterans uh that had actually been in the fight and actually experienced um some attacks, uh, and surviving that, whether physically or mentally or or emotionally, you know, that that could leave a a scar, a mental scar on you. Uh not the physical scars, but the mental scars. You know, um that's that's that's that's the main reason. But um, but even those who have not been deployed um and have uh who's been in their in the in rare in rare detachment and seen going through some of the some of the the the the struggles of of of not being able to you know finish the job and take and and have to come out of the army for whatever reason, whether it's it if they experience some type of injury or something, they gotta come out before it's time and then now they're they can't pay their bills. You know, in some cases that happens, you know. But another thing I want to I want to uh kind of talk about is the success stories. You know, we do hear a lot of stories about um the doom and gloom of being a veteran, but there are a lot of people who we don't hear about that actually went through it through 20 years or whatever, how many years and retired and went off to turn this into uh uh a business and and and they retired and and and they starting their own businesses and and and going off and and experiencing a good life. A good life. A good life, uh, those guys come back and they're the ones that become the the uh the social workers like myself, or become the the financial advisors, or become the spiritual advisors, become the mentors. So there are both sides to it. You know, there are a lot of success stories that we don't hear enough about.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So we need to, you know, sometimes we need to.
SPEAKER_01:It's important to highlight those two. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So for depression, let's get some statistics on depression and anxiety. According to research, 30% of veterans with PTAZ also suffer from depression. And about one in ten outpatient military clinic appointments is for depression. And veterans with PTAZ are more likely to experience suicidal behavior, substance, abuse, and mental illness. Treatment and support. Only about half of veterans with PTAZ seek treatment. So I think you know, stigma can play a major role in that too.
SPEAKER_00:The stigma, yes. Act to that stigma, and that's the thing, you know. Uh do the statistics talk about males versus females?
SPEAKER_01:No, it's just veteran in general.
SPEAKER_00:Uh, I can speak on the males. I don't know about the females, but the males, um, there's there is a stigma. Like again, you know, we go back to that concept of be a man, suck it up, you. know you know what what do you what do you what do you complain have to be wolf yeah right what you complain about you know just take care do your your male duty as a man serve and protect you just did it and I into your unit and now you gotta do it with your family and vice versa and back and forth you know um and you don't there's no time for you to take care of yourself there is time but most men don't realize that there's time to take care to spend time taking care of yourself which is which is crucial yeah we're we we're always taught to take care of everyone else and we neglect ourselves and that's where the depression comes in that's where the substance abuse comes in you know alcohol is the number one they turn the drinking a lot of people discover drinking in the army you know uh and a lot of people you know then that's where you know and they don't know where to turn because when they don't know how to address it appropriately so what they will be seeking is to numb that pain and to numb the pen is to drugs or substance abuse. Right yeah unfortunately self-medication you self-medicate so that happens so um you know uh we gotta find ways to to to uh take care of ourselves mentally and physically and and spiritually very important barrier to care include stigma lack of access to mental health services and fear of negative consequences so when they say fear of negative consequences is there anyone that we can think of yes a lot of times like so if you have a soldier that's considering or who has been taking drugs right he's an active duty soldier and he's taking drugs um so obviously this is a this is a way to get kicked out of the army get caught so the army has a thing now where you where if you come forward and say you you need help and you've been taking drugs they they're now getting a little bit less on that yeah they get more yeah they're more lenient on that so so I think that that's that's good that's a good thing that's a move in the right direction because it's not like what you've been doing drugs get out you know and now it's like oh we well they they're helping now if you say you have not been doing drugs and you get tested and you find drugs on you one you lied and two you you you didn't you know what I'm saying so that's a different story but now I think that you know I know soldiers who who did that you know they they they did not get kicked out they were able to get the help that they needed and I think that's important getting the help so we gotta destroy the stigma of what it means to be to be suffering mentally and also be doing to to to to suff suffer from substance abuse as well very important yes the VA offers various mental health services including crisis intervention yes counseling right medication management and impatient psychiatric care right so which is very important because it's like when you have people dealing with PTSD depression stress anxiety and so forth so it's like it's important to know that the services are out there and you have places that you can Right and that's what I was just talking about that the army is now set up in a way that you that they they they do have they're getting better their army is getting a lot better with with being they they're very they're very strict on the concept of of mental health now that's a big thing um being able to you know equal opportunity they're trying to make it where everybody it the the equity is there um being able to move up in rank uh no matter just based on your merit and not on anything else but you know it's it's made by humans so it's gonna be flawed you know it's still flawed but you know uh the army is is is working on that so I should say the army the military is working on that it's improving yes it's improving so okay and I and I still believe in in in in what the military stands for and uh it helped me help my family and I'm here what is the military we stand for for me um like we said earlier like um um discipline uh creating a foundation the actually having a strong foundation and where you can take care of your family you could get it they they're offering uh degrees you can get you can get go to college and have the army pay for it you know I mean uh a lot of people don't know that um you can you can you can go reserve which go you know work one weekend out of the month and you know go to have them pay for your college and then also get a trade out of it at the same time you know um and uh it looks good on your resume how many branches the military right yeah so military the military is is a big umbrella you have how many branches well the four main ones army navy air force marines then they have national guard which is local and then they have the coast guard um and what else those are the ones I could think of right now but there's there's more so that's the main ones right there okay but you know what unfortunately so the same way like you know when we had our show last time and we we came up with some statistics on suicide you know among youth but uh according to research there are some vet veterans it is unfortunate but we got to a point where they have to take their own lives right the numbers you know is like you know it's kind of like uh significant because even if it was like 0.4 it would have been significant because yeah nobody nobody whatsoever yeah should have been fine himself or herself to a point to take his own or her own life so it's always a tragedy yes when things like that happen.
SPEAKER_01:One is too many one exactly one is too many research indicates that about 17 veterans die by suicide every single year.
SPEAKER_00:Wow 17 that's way too many yes in 2021 the age and sex adjusted suicide weight over veterans was 71.8% higher than for non-veterant adults wow that's 2021 in 2021 that's the year I retired too yeah uh oh whoa it's sad yes very much so it is that's why that's why I'm doing this work because I want to prevent that I want to help to prevent it you know and uh give veterans a place that they can go to that they know that they can help a lot of times they you know veterans they don't want I shouldn't say veterans people in general don't want to express themselves they don't want to go and sit down and skin and spill their guts to a stranger you know so um art therapy is not the end all be all but it's it's a second it's another method that that that's that we could use that's somebody who's not really ready to communicate maybe they can communicate through just expressing their their emotions through creating art whether it's sculpting painting you know drawing what have you I know oftentimes we mentioned but sometimes I think you know some people may be too proud of themselves to six for help. Yeah I think so that that that does happen. So you know if you have a safe place you can go to to just to to go in and just and just just express you don't even have to talk about what what it is that you're going through. In time that will come you know art of ballor have we we have some some uh social workers um on on deck for that but you know we also can just just come go to play the magic and play some nice music and just go and and create art and create art and just express how you feel and we have some themes we have prompts that you can go to that you can have set set to set your your art in motion to just just get get your feelings out. Sometimes we just need to get it out and maybe we mean need not need to say it through words sometimes just just putting colors on the on the canvas is it should be enough. Just express it on paper creating music sculpting military suicide weighed her four times higher than death in war operations since 9-11 what's your thought on that well after 9-11 happened that's when uh deployment we went to war we before that we weren't at war we hadn't been at war since since uh uh Afghanistan yes since Afghanistan bush bush senior right so we hadn't been at war so now we um here we are we're at war again and now people and and we we are not able to there's some people who weren't really ready for it you weren't ready to you know you you go to some people join the military to go to college and now they find themselves in Iraq fighting a war that had nothing to do with 9-11 well that's another conversation that's another conversation okay so uh let's continue with the equations treatment and support what type of therapy or treatment have been most effective for veterans with depression anxiety and PTAZ I think group group therapy is is huge uh that's a that's a main one um it's been also my research shows that that again art therapy that's why I went towards art therapy art therapy has been a good means to to help veterans but going back to group therapy um you have a mediator a moderator in the in the facilitator and a group of veterans who are has gone through similar things and some have gone through different things everybody's in the in the group and we're able to express ourselves in front of other veterans talk about what we've been through and then we each help each other through our problems because they can relate. Yeah with the facilitator you're just just guiding it. So imagine being in a room full of people like what you've been through that and said or you know the person says this is how I'm feeling right now we're doing a check-in I'm feeling this way I'm feeling blah blah blah so then the facilitator says well does anyone have anything that they want to say to help this veteran and say well have you tried this because when I went through it I you know so group therapy to me and my experience and what I've seen works okay that's very important because it's like when you mentioned something that is very important it's like sometimes you know when you are dealing with people who have experienced similar things so you feel that hey I'm not alone exactly you know yeah so it's like oh seeing the what you did to overcome or push forward yeah or mistakes that I made you you don't have to do the same mistake I made exactly it's always warm for me to learn from you or that guy or this guy that's very important. Absolutely what can be done to raise awareness about the importance of mental health support for veterans back to social media I think social media I think having events having seminars having exposed um we we had out of valor planning a art and wellness expo next year um we don't have the details yet but um having a place not just social media but having actually having a place where people come getting back to the idea of community coming together in a place somewhere outdoors or or in a some type of a big space where we can get together and and commune with each other and actually create with each other and communicate with each other. So those are the two things and using social media to get the word out but also coming together and being in the same space with each other you know sharing drinks with each other I don't I don't mean alcohol but uh you know or maybe you know with grown adults right or sharing you know art with each other if you are dealing with a mental health problem and you are taking psychotrophic medication exactly you cannot mix well you can't mix them both right but um but like you know um you know breaking bread let's break bread with each other right you know uh eating sharing food you know sharing each other's culture the good thing about the military is that we we you meet people you never have met anywhere else you know I remember when you know coming a New Yorker from you know going to the military this I met people who's from the Midwest white boys who they never seen never I'm not exaggerating and never met a black person in their life face to face talking as you and I are talking now. They may have seen a black person from a distance but in their town there are no black people and they see black people on TV or they might see a black person in a in some type of job that that they're you know like that you know that they consider a lower job and then now they're on the same level we are both you know uh uh privates at the time um in basic training and he's like I actually had a a kid tell me that he's like I've never spoke to had a conversation like this with a black person I was the first black person this guy has ever talked to when somebody told you that is there anything that came to mind well it's it's funny because you know we New Yorkers ain't used to that you know we New Yorkers we we we used to being around all types of people that's a good thing about New York New York is that New York is not a perfect place but what I love about it is that we are used to speaking to people and being around all types of cultures whether we like each other or not you know I'm used to being on a train with a you know is a Chinese person a Japanese person a Jewish person a Puerto Rican person Haitian person you know white person and we're all on the train commuting together communicating talking uh so we're used to it but but you know we're not used to seeing somebody who ain't used to us right so it's like so but for me I was I was a little older I joined the army when I was a little older I was 29 years old when I was a private while everyone's straight out of high school so this is a young seven another 17 18 19 year old who's never he's talking to me I'm 27 so I'm older so I have to have that understanding that okay I gotta you know I have to be be mindful of of his lack of experience and not be offended.
SPEAKER_01:Even being at the same level as you but you still have to be a mentor exactly to that boy. Exactly you know he's he said he's never you know I think he he used the word colored to you know to me and I'm looking at him and I'm and clearly see he he he didn't mean anything by it you know I mean because that was the language that's the language that his parents raised him on who said I've never been around a colored person before in my life I'm like you know this two times you know while you mentioned that's how he was brought up recently but it was around the election sometime last year and my husband and I we went to church and upon entering the church there was a couple city and we were like the only black people where is it what city is this where were you we're not gonna go into detail okay okay okay every and we came about like maybe two or five minutes late because there was a parking issue the part the church parking was full with other activities to make a long story short so it's like we got there we sat down on the third wall and the wall behind us there was a couple with two kids one of them had a wet hat on he basically told the wife let's move and the wife he didn't want to move the wife said that is ridiculous so when the wife said that is ridiculous eventually they gone but I'm saying that it's to be in agreement to something that you just said whatever that the man did or said did not bother me but I felt for those two kids who were learning the father behavior.
SPEAKER_00:Now so you just because two black people came and sat in front of you you were not comfortable right to have black people so how you think those kids gonna go up and treat other people it's the same it's not the kids it's the parents yeah but you know that's why it's important and so this this is one of the benefits of the military right because this kid that I that I'm talking about he was probably being raised like that now he's 17 18 just came out of high school and now he's in the army his parents ain't around and he kind of can deal with me now you have a choice you could either adjust or you can get you have a negative experience. But it turned to be a positive experience because he was smart enough to adjust on the spot.
SPEAKER_01:Or the way you approach it too let's say for example if you were to address him as being not a very mature person that could have escalated into something only God knows.
SPEAKER_00:And also I I carry myself in a way that I don't abide by the the stereotypes of the negative stereotypes of of what it means to be a black man right so he felt comfortable enough to say that you know and I'm not here to make white people comfortable that's that's not what I was doing. I was just being me just being me made him comfortable but I don't adjust myself for him so he could be comfortable because if it comes to it he's gonna have to be uncomfortable if it if if it came to it but he had to adjust himself to my presence so that he could be comfortable and enough to say what he said and I didn't get offended because I know better I know that he's you know he said colored and I'm like okay that's his parents just you know and I I spoke to him about that I said you know we don't use that word no more right you know he's like he didn't know you was seventeen you said so pretty young and I'm trying to save him some from himself yeah you did good you did good so wow okay so I don't think I have any more questions is there anything else you want to add uh no um I I thank you again for having me again uh at your house and uh I appreciate uh what you're doing here and autovalor is uh autovolor.org where you can find me and for my art you can find me at darktruth22.com darktruth22.com before we leave I wanna leave uh oh you know all the veterans out there who may be in need and don't know exactly what to do what number to call and where to go so I wanna leave them with their hot lines the veteran crisis line yes right here you know which is uh 1-800 273 8255 1-800 273 8255 they operate on a 247 so regardless of the time thank you for that of the day whenever you feel the need just pick up the phone and call that number sir thank you for having me you promised that you were gonna come back yes and sure you did yes thank you and thank you thank you thank you so much we have so much more to talk about exactly so I know I know today is the second time but it won't be the last yes so I must see you again yes ma'am thank you thank you so much stay young stay healthy and stay handsome oh thank you very much I'll try and do the last one and I'm pretty sure that wife we've been is she's taking a good care of you so people don't have to worry about she held held me when I was we don't have to worry about that all that said it was with you Dr.
SPEAKER_01:Beatrice with your world