For one weekend a month and two weeks a year, members of the National Guard and Reserve are surrounded by people who understand them. The other days, they are teachers, mechanics, nurses and truck drivers whose coworkers may not know they ever deployed. That split life can make depression easy to hide.

Guard and Reserve members face many of the same stresses as active duty troops, including deployments, separations and the strain of civilian jobs that do not always bend around military orders. What they often lack is daily contact with a unit that would notice a change, and easy access to military health care between drill periods.

Where it shows up

Depression in this group often surfaces in civilian settings rather than military ones:

  • A drop in performance at work, or missed shifts blamed on being tired.
  • Withdrawal from family after returning from annual training or a deployment.
  • Money stress from lost civilian income during activation.
  • Comments to a spouse or friend about being a burden or wanting it to be over.

Families in small towns may live hours from a military installation or a VA medical center, which can make the next step feel far away.

Help that does not depend on drill weekend

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline works anywhere, any day. Guard and Reserve members, veterans and their families can call or text 988 and press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line, or text 838255. Eligibility for VA health care is not required to use it. Unit leaders, chaplains and state Guard behavioral health staff can also help connect members to care.

For ongoing treatment, a local primary care doctor is often the fastest door. When depression has not improved after trying antidepressants, doctors can discuss other options. One of them, for some adults, is esketamine nasal spray, Spravato, approved by the FDA with an oral antidepressant for treatment-resistant depression and for depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder with acute suicidal thoughts or behavior. It is given only in certified clinics under the Spravato REMS, where patients are monitored for at least two hours. It has not been shown to prevent suicide, and it does not replace emergency care.

For the unit and the family

A text on a Tuesday can matter as much as a talk on drill weekend. If someone you served with has gone quiet, reach out, ask directly how they are doing, and ask about suicide if you are worried.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time. Veterans and service members can press 1 after dialing 988, or text 838255, to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. In an emergency, call 911.