Afghan Vets & Mental Health Concerns--- How to Approach?

[NOVA Green]

Dear Atlas,

So as has been widely reported within the US Media there are many Afghanistan Military Veterans who are experiencing significant mental health issues in recent weeks as a result of the US Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan, in some cases compounded by other experiences they encountered during the War.

There are currently an estimated 800,000 Americans who served in Afghanistan according to the DoD.

https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2732900/taliban-take-kabul-us-troops-arrive-to-facilitate-departures/

This would not include many other Americans who served in Afghanistan as Contractors, as the US Military under Rumsfeld increasingly moved towards a "Business Process Outsourcing" Model in the early '00s.

Although the US Military does a much better job than it did during the Vietnam era during our Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, for many soldiers the mandatory "mental health assessments" are simply a check a box scenario, rather than taking advantage of mental health resources available.

Suicides among US Military Veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq likely exceed actual combat fatalities.

So....  Had a son-in-law who served in the USMC scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan under the "Obama Surge".... He was one a small % who got the "Thrax Vax", ended up in a Coma for three weeks shortly prior to his scheduled deployment with an Honorable Discharge but on permanent disability.

Within the past few years, a couple of the "younger guys" who worked under me in the factory were Afghan Vets came back, and have now taken on new jobs elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I have a neighbor in my Apartment complex who still wears his combat cap with the embedded device so that if he needed a MedEvac or in Night-time conditions, that he would be seen as a "friendly".

First time I met him was about (2) years ago, and my wife was wearing her USMC Hoodie, which her daughter had given her when we did an emergency flight down to San Diego to visit them, while he was in the coma.

He was walking a dog, well behaved and we chatted for a bit.

We never got particularly close, although when COVID-19 first started to come down he said he was a "prepper", and he didn't believe all of the stuff coming down from the media.

About six Months ago our friend "Chris", swings by the complex to visit his friends after having moved out some 3 Months before.

I'm out by the mailboxes having a cig and Chris starts talking to my neighbor, who I had never been close to before.

Conversation lasts roughly 20-25 Minutes and Chris is asking about how things are going with his GF, Mental Health, Job Scene, etc....

I'm almost a fly on the wall, but his body language indicated he didn't mind sharing personal details in front of a virtual stranger.

Find out he works at a Food Processing MFG Facility down the Highway in the Factory Town, his GF is Mexican-American (He is an Anglo), relationship issues are resolved and his mental health situation is doing much better.

Haven't seen him in over two weeks, although occasionally I have seen his GF walking the dog, but am concerned about his mental health situation.

S**T, this almost sounds like a "Dear Abby" post, but am seriously concerned about him since he always takes his dog out for a walk, unless he is working.

Any advice or has anybody else on Atlas trying to navigate or are experiencing similar conversations, so that we can help support our Vets in our communities without getting into people's personal space for those we might not know on anything close to a personal level?

Signed,

Wanting to Help

[Conservatopia]

encourage them to do the following: Read Schopenhauer, make sure not to get any sun, replace all  non-carbs in their diet with potato chips & soda, avoid all positive human  contact both in person and online and join twitter.

Ummm...

Was a serious question.

Ignore penicillincolafan he's just a troll who seeks distraction from his sad life by being a weirdo on the internet.

With regards to your friend(?) would it be safe to ask his gf if he is alright?

[NOVA Green]

encourage them to do the following: Read Schopenhauer, make sure not to get any sun, replace all  non-carbs in their diet with potato chips & soda, avoid all positive human  contact both in person and online and join twitter.

Ummm...

Was a serious question.

Ignore penicillincolafan he's just a troll who seeks distraction from his sad life by being a weirdo on the internet.

With regards to your friend(?) would it be safe to ask his gf if he is alright?

Possibly an option, although I would have to see her and start up an "innocent conversation" if I catch her walking the dog.

Also thinking a few of my retired neighbors on the other side of the apartments might have seen him around recently, including the daughter of one of my neighbors who actually lives in the same (14) Unit place he does.

Could just be that his work schedule has shifted, since the factory he works at are a 24x7 MFG outfit, or he is taking on a bunch of OT with a local labor shortage. (Usually their shift preference schedules open up Nov 1st based upon Seniority, but if he moved towards a Swing / Grave schedule might also explain things.

Thanks for the suggestion--- I don't want to pry or be intrusive on individual's personal lives, especially those who I don't know very well or go an Alfred Hitchcock "Rear Window" style stalking scene, but at the same time just a friendly voice can cheer people up, even if they are suffering depression issues which as I believe was mentioned in my OP, frequently tend to hit hardest among certain occupations, such as soldiers who have experienced combat situations.

Don't want to pry or be intrusive

Another might be

[NOVA Green]

UPDATE: Just saw my neighbor for the first time since the fall of Kabul.

He was walking his service dog, had his combat cap on....

Was about 15 feet from me on the back side of the complex and I greeted him in a casual Oregon style w/o getting into his space.

He had a big smile on his face, and although normally he keeps his dog on a short lead, extended it so that the dog could smell my shoes and closed with a comment about how she wanted to say hi to me, and he reigned her in after doing the "man head nod thing" as he moved back.

Obviously not going to get in anyone's space, but it seems like he's doing a little bit better, since this the FIRST TIME, he has ever let his dog get greater than 3' which I have ever seen....

Thinking maybe he's getting in a bit of better head space these days and will continue to do whatever I can w/o crossing a lane about extremely sensitive and personal topics, let alone the platitudes that many US Vets have to face every Vets Day "Thank You for Service", "15% off for Vets", "Free Meals for Vets", etc....

[NOVA Green]

Update: So have seen my neighbor multiple times in the past couple weeks even with his work schedule, and done multiple more "man grunts" and "saying hi to the dog" scenes.

Just a few minutes ago was outside having a cig by the mailbox and he is walking his puppy and we start chatting for about 5-10 minutes.

Introduced myself and shook hands: "We've been neighbors for awhile but don't even know your name".

Next thing you know he starts opening up a bit and gently ask how he is doing these days after...

He tells me he is now doing the best he has been in a long time and is using legal MJ as a Medication to deal with his Mental Health issues, and that the Military effed him up and kept trying to give him pills for his medical injuries, but he kept declining bcs he didn't want that to eff with his head, and that "the military screwed me up worse than anything else and now I'm starting to feel happy despite the BS".

He is not always the most talkative individual on the block, but looks like he's doing all right in terms of mental health now and recovering all of the PTSD from the Mindf**k the US Military put him through in Afghanistan.

Plus he's actually about 3-4 yrd older than me (which I wouldn't have guessed) so ~50 years.