Monday, June 9, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

15

CHRIS KOSLOWSKI I OUT T PASTURE
E-MAIL KOSLOWSKI AT CSKOSLOW@UMICH.EDU
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The hidden candidate

Fighting a silent war

hether you agree with
the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan
or not, we can
all agree that
returning sol- k
diers should be
treated with the,
utmost respect.
Providing our TOM
heroes with MICHNIACKI
phenomenal
medical care
in order to treat their physical and
emotional wounds best does this.
Physical wounds from combat are
easy to see and get a lot of media
attention, but we should not forget
about the mental wounds troops
incure on the battlefield.
According to a study released
by the U.S. Army in Jan. 2008,
approximately 20 percent of
troops fighting in Afghanistan and
Iraq show signs of post-traumatic
stress disorder or depression. This
is a huge number of soldiers, some-
where around 300,000.
PTSD and depressioncanbe very
debilitating. Flashbacks of trau-
matic events, nightmares, extreme
sadness and feelings of detachment
are just some of the symptoms that
service men and women with these
afflictions face everyday.
But according to a recent RAND
Corp. report, only about half of
troops with depression and PTSD
are getting the mental health care
they need. Without a doubt, the
government needs to provide bet-
ter treatment options for veterans.
But despairingly, even with
improved treatment possibilities
veterans may still not receive the

care required for improvement.
Military psychiatrists agree that
one of the main obstacles holding
back troops from receiving assis-
tance is a stigma regarding psy-
chological disorders.
Soldiers often hold the belief
thatseekingpsychological therapy
means that they lack strength or
are cowardly. Many also feel that a
commander would treat them dif-
ferently and lose faith.in them as a
sollier. It is difficult to seek help
when you think your career and
honor are in jeopardy. This stigma
must be abolished.
One way to do this is to make
mental health screenings more
routine in the military. If open
communication about mental
health becomes more common,
those who seek help would be less
likely to be marginalized. -
During these routine screen-
ings, information regarding
psychological disorders and treat-
ment options could also be given
to our brave men and women. A
soldier more educated about men-
tal health is probably more likely
to seek treatment.
Another huge issue holding
back progress in eliminating the
mental health stigma is confiden-
tiality. The general medical com-
munity places great importance
on the privacy of patient records,
but many of the laws regarding
confidentiality do not apply to the
military.
I think all of us would be reluc-
tant to seek any medical treatment
if we thought our bosses would
find out about it and judge us. A
balance between respecting a ser-
vice member's privacy and having
EditorialBoard Members:

sufficient information regarding
troops must be found.
Launching an advertising cam-
paign within the military that
attempts to show that getting men-
tal health treatment is OK may also
be beneficial. A few years back,
the National Institute for Mental
Health launched a public aware-
ness campaign, "Real Men, Real
Depression," which seems to have
produced positive results. Adver-
tisements similar to this one would
likely have a comparable effect on
servicemen and women.
The campaign should make it
clear that a solider doesn't have
to do heroic things on the battle-
field to be considered courageous.
Obtaining help when you think
you have depression or PTSD also
shows real valor.
Mental health
stigma an enemy
the military
must defeat.
Troops may get the most praise
for fighting against the Taliban and
al-Qaeda, but it takes unbelievable
bravery to fight battles against
emotional and psychological dif-
ficulties. War wounds not only the
body but also the mind and soul,
and we must never forget that.
Tom Michniacki can be
reached at tmich@umich.edu.

have never been too inter-
ested in politics, and up until
a few weeks ago I honestly
didn't care
who won the
Democratic
nomination. I
never felt like
there were
any policies
or legislative
amendments SHAKIRA
focused spe- SMILER
cifically on
supporting
black women, and even though
both candidates seemed equally
qualified, neither totally reflected
my identity. Historically, we have
always had to take a back seat to
black men and white women. So
while I was happy that we were
making progress as women and
African-Americans, I was sad that
black women were still being left
out. I figured that once again,
women of color would just have
to wait our turn.
I met Hillary Clinton this
February when she spoke to my
sorority. She impressed me with
her well-prepared speech - it
was obvious that she had gotten
schooled on how to appease a
group of professional, college-
educated black women. But hear-
ing her speak, I got that same gut
feeling I get when guys try to
sweet talk me at clubs. I knew it
was game, but I waved it off and
figured that in politics you've got
to tell the people what they want
to hear.
I also did my research on
Barack Obama. I was immediately
drawn to his ideas because of his
involvement in the community,
diverse background and personal
experience working with people
from every economic class. How-
ever, I worried about the way a
black man in office would be scru-
tinized in the wake of scandals
like the arrest of Washington D.C.
mayor Marion Berry for drugs and
recent sex-scandal drama sur-
rounding Detroit mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick. I knew that if Obama
even glanced at an intern for one
second too long, it could meana
setback for the whole black com-
munity.
I was frustrated by the results
of my research. Although she is
a woman, Hillary Clinton will
never truly understand what
it means to be a black woman.
And although he's black, Barack
Obama will never understand
what it means to be a black
woman. One identity cannot be

separated from the other because
each plays an important role in
defining who I am. Contrary to
popular belief, the limitations
and the restrictions that have
been imposed upon me because
of my sex and race are not mutu-
ally exclusive.
So where does that leave me in
terms of selecting a presidential
candidate to support?
The thing that stands out to me
the most about Obama is that his
wife, a black woman, is always
by his side. Not only is Michelle
Obama black, female and incred-
iblystylish, she is alsoawell-edu-
cated lawyer who attended some
of the country's most prestigious
universities, including Princeton
University and Harvard Law
School.
Obama's other
half completes
the package.
She is a mother who man-
ages to balance her professional
career and her family. She is her
husband's biggest supporter, but
it is evident that she stands on
her own two feet and carries her
weight in the relationship. She
has spearheaded several social
justice projects and programs
through non-profit organizations
and is still very much involved
with the everyday maintenance
of her family.
Michelle is the epitome of a
strong black woman and reminds
me so much of other notable
women who I admire like civil
rights activist Dorothy Height,
Shirley Chisolm, who was the
first black woman elected to U.S.
Congress, and legendary media
mogul Oprah Winfrey.
Barack may not understand
what it's like to be a black woman,
but Michelle sure does. With her
as the first lady of the United
States, the views of the American
black woman may finally be rec-
ognized and represented.
I believe that Barack Obama
will make an excellent president.
But more importantly, I'm excit-
ed that there could potentially be
a sista in the White House, finally
standing up for me.
Shakira Smiler canbe reached
at stsmiler@umich.edu.

Elise Baun, Anindya Bhadra, Harun Buljina, Robert Soave