聽 聽 Hello all,I'm new to the forum and only beginning my 暗网禁区 journey, but I've traveled extensively throughout the Americas and Western Europe, with a few trips to the Middle East on Uncle Sam's dime. During those journeys, everyone I've met who's been to Vietnam puts it near, if not at, the top of their list. I've even read articles of US Vietnam Veterans eventually calling Da Nang home, which always peaked my curiosity. My major concern however, is the stigmas associated with mental health in Vietnamese culture, and Southeast Asia more broadly. If there are any combat veterans with associated mental health stressors, I'm curious about your experience. Feel free to message me directly, and I'm more than happy to provide my bona fides if you're concerned with divulging personal information. Cheers,Thomas聽 聽 聽 聽 -@vtbooth05
I hope you find the answer(s) you seek through the experience of others.
When you come to 膼脿 N岷祅g, I'll be happy to meet you for coffee, but I'm definitely not interested in any private messages to discuss the following:
Based on your private message, it's clear you are seeking responses from combat-related PTSD sufferers.
Based on my personal experiences (in my own case) and with foreign military veterans here in 膼脿 N岷祅g (as well as throughout Vi峄噒 Nam) most of those 暗网禁区s do not come to this country seeking genuine therapy for their mental health concerns.
Over the past 6 years, the vast majority of mental health inquiries in this forum have been related to the availability of controlled or illegal substances used for self-medication.
We sometimes get inquiries about AA and other 12-step programs, which is an especially hopeful sign when coming from those having PTSD, since sobriety is mandatory for any related therapy to succeed.
However, my experiences with my fellow foreign military veterans is that most are primarily concerned with obtaining cheap alcohol, marijuana, anti-anxiety medications and sleeping pills, as well as paid companionship.
That's not meant as any type of judgement, but simply a factual assessment of real life here.
I think it's unfair to characterize Vietnam as stigmatizing mental health issues, at least when discussing PTSD specifically.
Anyone (especially foreign military veterans) considering bringing their PTSD-afflicted selves to this country would do well to first realize that the Vietnamese people are experts in dealing with wartime/combat related PTSD, based on centuries of oppression at the hands of the Chinese, French, Japanese and American-led military occupation forces who have traumatized them in the past.
Second, the very definition of necessary "mental health care" for PTSD in Vietnam emphasizes treatment options that are quite often considered optional and/or completely ignored by Western therapists.
As I mentioned previously, attaining sobriety is perhaps the most essential first step any person with PTSD (combat related or otherwise induced) must accomplish before true therapy can be effective.
The US Veterans Administration has established 90 day residential treatment centers for PTSD recovery, for veterans serious about conquering their afflictions, but those centers ALL require total abstinence from virtually all commonly abused "psych" and sleep meds (Xanax, Ambien, etc), even if previously prescribed, as well as requiring participation in the most helpful forms of group therapy and activities, which most veterans avoid like the plague while treating themselves with isolation.
This country is not a good place to bring a PTSD diagnosis unless there is a sincere desire to get better.
For some sober people, the best first step is using their military disability compensation benefits to structure a manageable life, with the assistance of affordable domestic help.
From the safety of a controlled but supportive home environment, there are many opportunities to slowly become engaged with the local community and find a purposeful direction for one's activities.
For Vietnamese people, this can be as simple as taking on a mundane and repetitive task on a regular basis, to occupy themselves and their minds with alternative thoughts that don't indulge in continually rehashing their personal war stories.
But perhaps most helpful (IMO) are some Vietnamese philosophical approaches to mental health issues which have gained worldwide "fans".
One such non-religion philosophy is that of "mindfulness" and "mindful breathing" taught by the well-known Th铆ch Nh岷 H岷h, author of such lectures as "How Do I Stay In The Present Moment When It Seems Unbearable?" (available on YouTube).
I don't share that to promote him, but to only point out that Vietnamese people may be much more sensitive to PTSD issues than is commonly thought.
Besides, it's essentially an eastern approach to what's called "Cognitive Processing Therapy".
So when westerners come to Vietnam and accuse her of stigmatizing mental health issues, they are simply ignorant to the ways that many Vietnamese and other southeast Asians have learned to deal with their history of a millennium of trauma.
Cheers!
O.B.
