87 4 DISCLOSURE IN THE MILITARY - A QUALITATIVE STUDY Soldier with MHC/SA (male): ‘I don’t talk to my supervisor often; I don’t know him well. I would tell him less’. This lack of trust in the supervisor, was also caused by how soldiers saw supervisors treat others with MHC/SA. Soldier without MHC/SA (male): ‘I had a sergeant, and one of my colleagues talked to him about MHC/SA once, and during a debrief this sergeant discussed what my colleague told him. Suddenly everyone knew, while my colleague told him in confidence.’ 4. Lack of communication skills surrounding MHC/SA All participants discussed that soldiers themselves often lack the skills to talk about their own MHC/SA. MMH-professional (female): ‘I noticed that a lot of soldiers are not able to put their feelings into words. When they come to us, they are still in the phase of recognizing their symptoms. They need to learn a lot before they can put everything into words.’ In addition, it was also mentioned that colleagues and supervisors often lacked skills to start a conversation about MHC/SA. Soldier with MHC/SA (male): ‘My supervisor kept talking about other things than my MHC/SA. He did not want to touch upon the topic. Because that was scary, what if I started crying?’ 5. Masculine workplace culture All participants described the military as a place where soldiers are expected to be strong (i.e., having a ‘can-do’ attitude), rather than showing weakness. This ‘can-do’ attitude is also associated with the denial of symptoms of MHC/SA. MMH-professional (male): ‘Focus is to always keep on going, take your own responsibility, you are trained in that way.’
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