Note: This lesson was originally published on an older version of The Learning Network; the link to the related Times article will take you to a page on the old site.
Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.
Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students will analyze the experiences of a fictional soldier in a war and create a mental health profile for that individual. They then emulate psychiatrists and propose treatment strategies for their particular soldier’s post-traumatic stress disorder.
Priscilla Chan, The New York Times Learning Network
Bridget Anderson, The Bank Street College of Education in New York City
Suggested Time Allowance: 1 hour
Students will: 1. Consider the thoughts of soldiers being sent to fight wars.
2. Examine the stress on soldiers by reading and discussing, “For the Troops, a Dose Neuroscience and the Voice of Homer.”
3. Explore a war and create a mental health profile for a fictional soldier.
4. Act as a psychiatrist and prescribe a treatment strategy for the mental healthcare of a fictional soldier.
Resources / Materials:
-copies of “For the Troops, a Dose Neuroscience and the Voice of Homer” (one per student)
-resources about different wars and mental health (computers with Internet access, history textbooks, library resources, encyclopedias, etc.)
Activities / Procedures:
1. WARM-UP/DO NOW: Students respond to the following prompt in their journals (written on the board prior to class): “Recently, many soldiers have been shipped overseas in preparation for war. What do you think is going through the minds of these soldiers? Describe their thoughts.” After a few minutes, allow students to share their responses. What are the characteristics of a soldier? To what different types of hazards are soldiers exposed? If a soldier survives the war, how do you think his or her life will be changed by their wartime experiences?
2. As a class, read and discuss the article “For the Troops, a Dose Neuroscience and the Voice of Homer,” focusing on the following questions:
a. What happened the year Dr. Jonathan Shay turned 40?
b. What type of psychiatrist is Dr. Shay?
c. What was the focus of Dr. Shay’s two books?
d. Why was Dr. Shay surprised at the reception his theories received from military people?
e. What psychoactive drugs does Dr. Shay prescribe to some of his patients?
f. What is Dr. Shay’s “unified, and controversial, theory”?
g. How does Dr. Shay’s characterization of trauma differ from the standard diagnostic military manual’s characterization of trauma?
h. Why does Dr. Shay believe trust is important in warfare?
i. Why were soldiers in the Vietnam War unable to establish trusting relationships?
j. How does Dr. Shay believe his psychiatric theory will improve warfare in the future?
3. As a class, brainstorm emotions that soldiers may feel during or after a war experience that might affect their mental health. Write this list on the board. (For a comprehensive list of emotions, see http://sourcecounseling.com/List.html.) Then, as a class, brainstorm major wars that have occurred in history. (For a comprehensive list of wars, see http://www.historyguy.com/War_list.html.) If students have read Homer’s “Iliad” or “Odyssey,” the Trojan War can be added to the list.
After brainstorming the emotions and wars lists, divide students into pairs and assign each pair a war from the list on the board. Explain that each pair will serve as psychiatrists-in-training who will attempt to profile the mental health status of their first patient, a fictional soldier fighting in the war they have been assigned. Pairs should select a war and research the following questions (written on the board for easier student access):
-What war are you focusing on?
-How were soldiers enlisted to fight in this war? -Who fought as soldiers in this war?
-How were soldiers grouped together in this war?
-How did soldiers interact with their superiors in this war?
-What types of weapons and combat strategies were primarily used in this war?
-Who was the enemy in this war?
-What was happening in this soldier’s life before he or she left for war? (Research the contextual background of your soldier’s home country to find out what he or she was leaving behind.) After completing their research, students should create a mental health profile of a fictional soldier fighting in that war. Students should describe what circumstances would lead the soldier to feel a particular emotion. For example, for the Vietnam War, students may write, “Patient feels alienated because he was unable to establish long-term friendships with other soldiers due to the high rate of rotation of soldiers in and out of his unit. He feels that any friends he makes now will just leave him.” Students should describe at least ten emotions for their soldier.
4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Students should read a description of post-traumatic stress disorder (available at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm) and identify why their fictional soldier would be diagnosed with the problem. Then, students should read a brief description of some treatment methods of post-traumatic stress disorder (available at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm#viol5) and prescribe a treatment for their fictional soldier.
In a future class, students should meet in their original pairs to create a treatment strategy for their patient using their diagnoses and recommendations for treatments. Students should present the “cases” of their soldiers to their peers. Students should discuss whether or not they agree with the diagnoses and treatment strategies of their fellow psychiatrists-in-training.
Further Questions for Discussion:
–Do you agree with Dr. Shay’s “unified, and controversial, theory”? Why or why not?
–What types of stresses do civilians experience during wartime?
–Is war always stressful? Why or why not?
–Do all emotions have a scientific explanation? Why or why not?
Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on initial journal responses, thoughtful participation in class discussions, cooperation in pairs, research about a particular war, creativity and accuracy in creating a mental health profile of a fictional soldier, and analysis of treatment disorders for that soldier.
relevance, contemplate, scarcer, recuperating, inflicts, empathy, prone, interchangeable, traumatic, cohesion, morale, refractions, dissonance, psychological, simulacrum, tranquility, rasp, court-martial, grievances, congregations, multipliers
1. Read “The Iliad” or “Odyssey” (full text is available at http://www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/iliad.html and http://www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/odyssey.html). Imagine that you are treating a soldier who has survived the Trojan War. Write a profile of the types of stresses the soldier would probably experience. Compare this profile with your profile from the above activity. How does the mental health status of the Trojan War soldier relate to that of the more modern soldier? For extra credit, read excerpts from one of Dr. Shay’s books. Does your comparison agree with Dr. Shay’s?
2. Contact a local veteran’s office and invite a guest speaker to share his or her war experience with your class. Ask considerate questions about how the speaker adjusted back into civilian life.
3. Interview a therapist or psychiatrist who works with veterans. Ask him or her to look at your soldier profile to see if he or she agrees with your assessment and treatment strategy. Use the feedback to alter your profile, if necessary.
4. Compare the different branches of the United States Armed Forces. In which branch would a recruit be more likely to experience traumatic stress, and how is that likelihood connected with the type of military services performed by the branch? Write a one-page fact sheet that describes your conclusions for interested enrollees in the military.
5. Create a “How It Works” poster which explains the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on the brain.
Economics- Research different types of healthcare insurance and evaluate the extent of their mental health coverage. Then research typical prices of therapy or treatment programs and assess whether or not mental health services should be covered by more insurance carriers. Write a letter to the head of an insurance company and use your findings to persuade him or her to consider expanding mental health coverage.
Mathematics- Choose five major wars and research the total number of soldiers who fought in each war. Graph this data. Include an analysis about any patterns you notice in the manpower of each war. Consider the following questions as you analyze the graph: How might the number of soldiers in a war affect the severity of stress experienced by each soldier? How might the experiences of one generation of veterans affect or deter the next generation of soldiers?
Social Studies- Explore the social stigma associated with mental disorders and create an informational pamphlet for an anti-discrimination group. In your pamphlet, address questions such as: How prevalent are mental health concerns in the United States? What are the different types of mental health concerns? What types of stereotypes do most people have about mental disorders? How does this affect the number of people who seek treatment?
references: The National Institute of Mental Health ( http://www.nimh.nih.gov/) provides a variety of information, resources, and contacts about mental health disorders.
The United States Army Borden Institute ( http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/wp/default_index.htm) offers a comprehensive overview of “war psychiatry.”
Academic Content Standards:
Health Standard 4- Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health. Benchmarks: Knows strategies to manage stress and feelings caused by disappointment, separation, or loss; Understands the difference between safe and risky or harmful behaviors in relationships; Knows techniques for seeking help and support through appropriate resources
Science Standard 16- Understands the scientific enterprise. Benchmark: Knows ways in which science and society influence one another
(CTSS – ‘science’, ’6-8’, ’16’)
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective. Benchmarks: Analyzes the influence specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history; Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history; Knows different types of primary and secondary sources and the motives, interests, and bias expressed in them
(CTSS – ‘social’, ’6-8’, ‘hu2’)
World History Standard 44- Understands the search for community, stability, and peace in an interdependent world. Benchmarks: Understands instances of political conflict and terrorism in modern society; Understands the definition of “fundamentalism,” and the political objectives of militant religious movements in various countries of the world, as well as the social and economic factors that contribute to the growth of these movements
(CTSS – ‘social’, ’6-8’, ‘wh10’)
Language Arts Standard 4- Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmark: Gathers data for research topics from interviews
(CTSS – ‘english’, ’6-8’, ’4’)
Health Standard 4- Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health. Benchmarks: Knows skills used to communicate effectively with family, friends, and others, and the effects of open and honest communication; Knows strategies for coping with and overcoming feelings of rejection, social isolation, and other forms of stress; Understands the role of denial as a negative influence on mental and emotional health, and ways to overcome denial and seek assistance when needed
Science Standard 16- Understands the scientific enterprise. Benchmark: Knows that science and technology are essential social enterprises, but alone they can only indicate what can happen, not what should happen
(CTSS – ‘science’, ’9-12’, ’16’)
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective. Benchmarks: Analyzes the influences specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history and specifies how events might have been different in the absence of those ideas and beliefs; Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history and studies how things might have been different in the absence of those decisions; Understands that the consequences of human intentions are influenced by the means of carrying them out; Understands how the past affects our private lives and society in general; Knows how to perceive past events with historical empathy; Knows how to evaluate the credibility and authenticity of historical sources
(CTSS – ‘social’, ’9-12’, ‘hu2’)
World History Standard 44- Understands the search for community, stability, and peace in an interdependent world. Benchmarks: Understands the role of political ideology, religion, and ethnicity in shaping modern governments; Understands the role of ethnicity, cultural identity, and religious beliefs in shaping economic and political conflicts across the globe
(CTSS – ‘social’, ’9-12’, ‘wh10’)
Language Arts Standard 4- Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmarks: Uses a variety of primary sources to gather information for research topics; Identifies and defends research questions and topics that may be important in the future
(CTSS – ‘english’, ’9-12’, ’4’)