Benjamin Joseph Mehr

Specialist, Army National Guard (TN and MA)

"The fact that my Op Mend care included my family redirected the wellness of our entire household. Op Mend efficiently provided the care and tools I needed so desperately to get better."

Warrior Ben Mehr comes from a military family. His grandfather (Army), older brothers (Air Force and Navy), and the 9/11 attacks when Ben was 16 inspired him to join the service. He convinced his parents and signed after he turned 17.

The ten-year veteran served in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 772nd Military Police Company (772 MP Co.), a group of Massachusetts National Guardsmen. He experienced trauma that resulted in isolation, depression, and anxiety.

Warrior Care Network and the Wounded Warrior Project referred Ben to UCLA Health Operation Mend because he was having difficulty overcoming symptoms of trauma. “I had experienced trauma throughout my whole life. I was stuck in ruts of toxic self-talk and doubt along with depression and anxiety,” he says.

Ben’s Operation Mend experience was truly lifesaving, he says. “Operation Mend is a blessing in my life that I will be eternally grateful for. The fact that my Op Mend care included my family redirected the wellness of our entire household. Op Mend efficiently provided the care and tools I needed so desperately to get better.”

“I am still on a journey,” Ben says, “But I am continuing to apply what I learned at UCLA, along with other therapies like EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). Thanks to all this, I am finding significant improvement in my day-to-day mindset, mood, and motivation. I have also reset my modus operandi to being social once again, as I had spent much of the prior four years isolating.”