WEBVTT

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Staff Sergeant Harrison is one of my

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really good friends from back at Joint

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Base Elmendorf Richardson we originally

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met in technical school , he was really

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determined and what he wanted and you

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could definitely tell when something

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was up , um just in the way that he

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acted . Uh So there were a couple of

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times where you would see that his

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morale had dipped a little bit , but um

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it was only the really close people

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that would really pay attention and ask

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him what was going on .

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When I left for basic training . I was

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dating , dating my high school

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sweetheart at the time after I got my

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assignment , she had kind of given me

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an ultimatum if we're not getting

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married , we're gonna break up , got

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the father's permission and married her .

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They kind of rushed into it . He was

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going to Alaska , they were from Ohio

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to go from her , living with her mom

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and dad and him living , his mom and

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dad to being a family . I felt like it

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was too much .

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I went t d Y in May when I came

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back , the house was packed up and she

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had moved out . I

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didn't have the tools to fix the

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relationship and I didn't know that I

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didn't have the tools . They just

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couldn't really amicably split up .

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And then , not even two weeks after my

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grandfather passed away ,

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not having my grandfather to help me

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through that time was extremely

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difficult . He felt like he was not

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only being cheated on , but cheated in

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life . That

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started probably about a nine month

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journey in a very depressive state . I

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was an airman doing the subpar job . I

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was during that time , there were a

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couple of times where he didn't show up

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at all . I was ashamed that that I was

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taking up so much my leaderships time

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because when you get into that mindset ,

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you think that you're just a burden . I

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was , you know , four hours behind my

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friends and family and , you know ,

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5000 miles away from my nearest support .

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He was a young man , firstly in the

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military , going through a divorce from

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a woman he loved . I was ready to do

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anything to be with her . It kind of

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just came crashing down around him . It

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kind of clicks , clicks on that says

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that if I were to hurt myself , if I

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were to drive off the side of the road ,

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she has to care for me . If she cares

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for me , she'll she'll be back with me .

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We would tell him maybe you should go

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talk to somebody ,

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hey , I need help . Somebody , help me ,

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I'm drowning . Please , please come

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rescue me . Sometimes . It takes that

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outside opinion to kind of put things

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in perspective . I don't believe the

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Air Force has a stigma with airmen

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going to mental health , it's the

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airmen who have a stigma of going to

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mental health , they're afraid that

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just because they go , they might get

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med boarded and they get kicked out .

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But that's not the case . As I was

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making my way out of that dark , dark

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area of my life , I moved on a mental

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health , you know , especially dealing

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with a lot of my energy and time was

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being put into this , this failing

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relationship I specifically want to

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talk to in flak military family life

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counselors . First having somebody

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objectively that didn't know everything

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about me , didn't even know me at my

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job , didn't know what I did accept

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other than I was a service member .

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That really changed my perspective . He

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didn't have to worry about having to

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bring his wife in at the same time .

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This was just a one on one type of

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counseling for him . There was no doubt

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in my mind that after the first , the

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first appointment that she cared , my

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provider cared . It helped me realize

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the areas where I could grow as a

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person , even if it meant growing as a

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person without her in my life ,

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mental health is here for us to really

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work through our deep selves . She was

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going to get me to where I needed to be

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and equipment with the tools to fix my

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situation . It really centralizes

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problems that we aren't even aware of .

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It's different when an objective person

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comes . And it's like I can tell by how

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you treat and how you act and how

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you're handling this , that you're

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worth more than that one action . Come

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to the realization that you have a

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problem and you're willing to accept

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that it's you . It's better to get it

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off your chest and begin that process

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of healing then to sit back and hurt

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and potentially do something that you

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can't come back from . That is a

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permanent solution to a temporary

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problem . The women culture

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is always being there for somebody ,

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the friends that I've built through

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these these tedious situations . They

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really embodied that that wingman

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culture , I never want something to

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happen to you . Where if looking back I

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could fix it or I could help it and I

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chose not to . It would hurt me ,

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luckily I had you know , friends like

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sergeant Sanders , sergeant fever and

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my commander to help me get the help I

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needed . If your team is good , the

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mission is gonna be good . The number

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of airmen going to go see mental health

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or any of the resources that the air

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force has to offer are going up . And I

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feel that that's a good thing because

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it means that people are reaching out

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there , getting the help that they need ,

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helping get people at those healthy

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levels . That's how you stop this .

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That's how you help prevent the most

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preventable thing to our fellow airman .

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My career hasn't just bounced back .

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It's flourished because of the

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dedication that I've seen because their

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forces , a family . He is kind of the

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epitome of bouncing back . Andrew's

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career has not been negatively impacted

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by anything . And I believe Mhm

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Guy's a rock star . If I didn't have

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the level of care that I did , I don't

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I don't know if I if I'd still be here .