Unique to tactical athletes is the volume of subconcussive forces they are exposed to, particularly subconcussive blast exposures.
These exposures have been associated with later life depression, apathy, and poor emotional control. [1-3]
Mental and emotional health is, unfortunately, still a touchy subject for many. While there are many factors that influence mental health, repeated subconcussive exposures impact this in a very specific way.
Repeated subconcussive exposures can change the way the brain communicates in the regions responsible for emotional control. [4]
Think of our brains as a city that is under constant construction. Subconcussive forces can damage the roadways responsible for emotional control and you end up with roadways built in directions that you don’t want to go- apathy, impulsivity, depression, and abnormal rage reactions.
But because our brain is under constant construction there is opportunity to change this. That’s why mental health professionals are so important. They can help you rebuild the roadways of mental health.
Ideally, we would be able to mitigate subconcussive exposures, and we should strive to mitigate exposure wherever possible. But it is not realistic to expect the tactical community to mitigate all subconcussive exposures.
That is why we must start with a proactive approach. Knowing that you have these exposures, and how they impact mental health, working with mental health professionals proactively to strengthen these good connections is vital.
And if you are struggling with mental health issues, please seek help. Mental health professionals are there to assist you in building the roadways back to where you want to be going.
Because the health of our military, veterans, and first responders is the health of our Nation.
US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
References:
- McKee, A. C., & Robinson, M. E. (2014). Military‐related traumatic brain injury and neurodegeneration. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 10, S242-S253.
- Stern, R. A., Daneshvar, D. H., Baugh, C. M., Seichepine, D. R., Montenigro, P. H., Riley, D. O., … & McKee, A. C. (2013). Clinical presentation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Neurology, 81(13), 1122-1129.
- Montenigro, P. H., Alosco, M. L., Martin, B. M., Daneshvar, D. H., Mez, J., Chaisson, C. E., … & Tripodis, Y. (2017). Cumulative head impact exposure predicts later-life depression, apathy, executive dysfunction, and cognitive impairment in former high school and college football players. Journal of neurotrauma, 34(2), 328-340.
- Champagne, A. A., Coverdale, N. S., Ross, A., Murray, C., Vallee, I., & Cook, D. J. (2021). Characterizing changes in network connectivity following chronic head trauma in special forces military personnel: a combined resting-fMRI and DTI study. Brain injury, 1-9.