Training VFW Bartenders to Recognize Mental Health Warning Signs
January 29th, 2011
People who regularly visit the same bar may jokingly refer to their bartenders as their therapists. Social workers at Ohio State University think there may be some truth to this bond. They hope to start a training program for VFW bartenders that could help veterans get mental health support when they need it. A survey of VFW bartenders found that they had especially close relationships with their patrons, making them attuned to the trials of these veterans. In the proposed program, bartenders wouldn’t be trained in actual counseling or therapy. Rather, they would learn the warning signs for depression and PTSD, the resources available to veterans, and “techniques for referring veterans to services in a way that does not alienate them.”
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Bartenders have to naturally be great conversationalists.
To give them training in this area if this is the demographic that they are working with makes sense.
Our remaining oldest veterans, whose numbers are probably in the double-digits by now, are from wars that happened before certain traumas like shellshock and PTSD were readily accepted as genuine problems needing long term assistance and mental health helpe. Any military person that’s served on a battlefield deserves all the help they can get, wherever and whoever it may come from.
This sounds like a good idea.Because patrons usually chat with bartenders and if they are regulars,the bartender will already know quite a lot about the patron’s background.This places the bartender in a unique position from which he can help the patron.
Sorry but I tend bar and there are times when I chat up patrons but I try not to get too deep with them. I know it sounds bad but I really don’t have time.
We don’t do anything even close to enough for veterans. We sent them off to a country most of us can’t find on the map, know anything about, or frankly even care about, and any veteran will tell you that they don’t get enough thanks for it when they come back. It’s shameful that they have to battle all over again upon their return, this time for the mental health support and therapy so many desperately need.
…AlSo ThEy ArE ThE FiRsT OnEs To KnOw If A PeRsOn Is DrInKiNg ToO MuCh…AnD AlSo If A PeRsON Is ShOwInG SyMpToMs Of Any PrObLeM…!
Well I’m not too convinced about this idea.Although bartenders may be able to recognize that a customer is having an issue,he can do just that-identify.He cannot do much more than that.Not unless you’re talking about training bartenders in psychology!
Most veterans are very proud people and may not take too kindly to their bartender being the one to suggest help or rehab services for them, even if it is readily apparent that this is what they need. Maybe talking to family memebers would be a better route to take, but bartenders are bartenders. They can listen but aren’t there are other providers out there who would be better equipped to handle these kinds of problems?
It’s very troubling how widespread mental health problems are amongst serving soldiers and veterans. I was reading today on Good that “for the second consecutive year, more American soldiers—both enlisted men and women and veterans—committed suicide in 2010 than were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” How shocking is that! Preventative action is needed now, not tomorrow or the next day.
Someone who says their bartender is their therapist would probably get laughed at or branded an alcoholic by people who don’t frequent bars often. :) Being as it is that alcohol is ingrained in society as a “social” pastime, it’s natural that you’d end up being able to talk to your bartender easily. Especially if you’ve had a few drinks. I like the thought of them being our vet’s guardian angels.
Finding PTSD and depression among ex-military personnel that have experienced war is like trying to find a DVD at Blockbuster. Regardless of what you may think or say, killing another human being is very traumatic for most people. There are very few out there who would feel genuinely good about killing and those that do would never pass the psych evaluations to get in the military in the first place. I think this is a good idea. The more eyes we have watching over our veterans, the better.
@Beth– That’s fully understandable. Running a bar is a full-time job that needs all of your attention too. It just takes one guy to have too many drinks and misinterpret your intentions when you’re just being a friendly ear to spoil the entire evening. I think it would be different in a VFW bar because the bartenders probably have been in the military too at some point.
RR disapproves!
not only is it a bad idea to let someone like a bartender decide when a vet has a problem but is also an absurd alternative to actually provide good mental health care and frequent examinations in this regard by the government and the armed forces.
@jimmy I completely agree. If I wanted alcohol from a stranger who didn’t know or care about who I was, I’d get my booze at a liquor store instead. Bars are social places and I feel the bartender can certainly be a lifesaver just by listening and paying attention to his regulars.
So many of the very elderly veterans live alone too. The bartender may be the only person that sees them regularly enough to notice a change in them. It makes sense.
RR, in an ideal world there wouldn’t be a need for this program but this is not an ideal world. It’s better than nothing! All the bartenders will do is attempt to hint that the vets may want to think about seeking professional help.
(And just for the record, talking about yourself in the third person is creepy unless you’re the Queen of England.)
What about privacy? If I go into a bar and chat with the bartender, I don’t expect what I said and did to reach the ears of health professionals whether it’s in a VFW bar or not. I’d want to know much more about this idea’s scope before I would say it’s a good thing.
Guys will spill their guts to a bartender about stuff they swear they never discuss with their wives or girlfriends like money, relationship or health worries. I’ve worked behind a bar and heard it all. It’s nuts because that’s the very kind of stuff they should be sharing with them. Drink loosens the tongues of the toughest looking guys there are.
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