Speakers appeal to Soldiers’ hearts and heads

By Staff Sgt. S. Patrick McCollum
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., (9/17/09) - The Army National Guard attempted to reach Soldiers through their heart and their head during an event held at the Readiness Center Sept. 14.

Speakers Kim Ruocco and Dr. Martin Binks were hosted by the Army Guard’s Suicide Prevention Program. 
Ruocco is the widow of Marine Corps Maj. John Ruocco, who took his own life in 2005 before a second deployment to Iraq.

Military culture, she said, does not allow any show of weakness and this stigma contributed to her husband’s death.  

While Ruocco spoke from the perspective of a family member left behind, Binks, a clinical psychologist, spoke of ways to cope with the pressure of being assigned to a headquarters, like Soldiers at the Readiness Center.

 “It’s difficult to achieve that balance,” said Maj. Gen. Grant Hayden, an assistant to the director of the Army National Guard, who introduced Binks.

Citing his own perception of guilt for not serving in forward areas, Hayden said, “we tend to work a few extra hours (because of that guilt).”

Binks took a clinical approach to the problem, defining stress and resiliency and offering solutions, such as exercise and meditation, which he said is misunderstood.
Meditation, he said, is not just for high-level thinkers. It is simply taking one’s mind to another place. 

“If you’re listening to the boring speaker and thinking of your happy place, that’s meditation,” Binks said, poking fun at himself.

An audience member told the doctor about a conversation he had with a World War II veteran about resiliency. The veteran said recent generations aren’t as tough.

Binks said every generation has its own unique challenges.

One of the keys to the World War II generation was a sense of hope and clear, attainable goals.
To remedy this with the current generation, Binks held up the new Post 9/11 GI Bill as a way to instill hope and goals in servicemembers.

Along with all the talk about self-care through resilience and meditation, questions also came up about perhaps the most important scenario: when to intervene.

Binks, who specializes in cases of severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, suggested the best way is to get professional help from clergy or medical personnel.

“If you can get them in front of any trained helper, that’s the goal,” he said.

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