International Conference of War Veteran Ministers

Healing and Preventing Mental Wounds of War

A Peace and Justice Statement
October 18, 2006

The International Conference of War Veteran Ministers, meeting in Menlo Park, California, October 16 to October 20, 2006, and after prayerful reflection, adopted the following resolution concerning the mental wounds of war.

As humans, we are subject to mental wounds as well as mental illnesses. Mental illnesses (disruptions in the biochemistry of the brain that impair our thinking, feeling, and relating) are most often "no fault" events not resulting from anything that can be prevented, prohibited, or punished.

Mental wounds, however, occur because specific events have taken place that exceed human coping capacities. In addition to combat, these events may include rape, child abuse or domestic violence, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires or other events in which we see death, or fear for our own safety. These wounds most often are termed Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

We believe the experience of trauma can wound human beings in the realms which affect the formation of relationships: feelings, beliefs, judgment, frame of reference, memory and perception, and body and brain.

We believe relationships that express respect, information, connection and hope are central to healing from trauma.

We believe that because humans are spiritual beings, trauma affects our relationship with God, and our relationship with God contributes to our healing from trauma.

We believe that those who help trauma survivors may also be affected personally by the survivor's experience and response to the trauma; therefore self-care is imperative for all helpers.

We believe that communities in general, and faith communities in particular, extend the web of relationships, both with others, and with God. They are therefore of great importance to the process of healing from trauma.

Therefore we encourage faith communities of every kind to learn the dynamics of trauma, so that they can support the increasing number of warriors and other trauma survivors who are in their midst.

We call upon the Department of Veterans Affairs in the United States, the Veterans Agency in the United Kingdom, the Department of Veterans Affairs in Canada, Department of Veterans Affairs in Australia, and Veterans Affairs New Zealand, and equivalent organizations elsewhere to take leadership in assuring that all health care providers are knowledgeable about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD; and that treatment of mental illnesses and wounds have parity with other illnesses and wounds.

We call upon our respective governments to take into account the long term casualty rates from PTSD when committing our armed forces to battle. We further call for full funding for treatment of mental wounds.

[Portions of the statement above were adapted from Risking Connection in Faith Communities: A Training Curriculum for Faith Leaders Supporting Trauma Survivors (Sidran, 2006)

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