Essay about Advocacy for Diverse Clientele

There is concern about military service members receiving stigma about getting or needing treatment in the area of mental health. Stigma occurs when individuals view others negatively because they have been labeled or identified as having a deviant behavior against societal norms; deviant behaviors such as mental illnesses or diagnoses uncommon or harmful to others. How does that impact the military? Military men and women alike are termed heroes, warriors, and survivors; this is quite the reputation to keep up. Military members go to war or deploy to hostile combat environments, which many come back with severe mental illnesses and diagnosis that need immediate care. At this point they may not feel like a hero. The terms psychological, mentally ill, PTSD, and behavioral health has gained a reputation as having or being a problem. Being labeled a problem is not what service members want. Many studies are trying to pinpoint the problem and resolve the stereotypes associated with getting treatment. Consequently, an individual’s attitude toward mental health treatment is thought to be affected by other people’s views on mental health care (Held & Owens, 2012).

Today, hundreds of thousands of service men and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have been shot at, seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are types of events that can lead to Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder ("Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic. “) Anyone that has gone through a traumatic event can be diagnosed with PTSD but research shows, military men and women are more susceptible to having PTSD (PTSD: A Growing Epidemic.) And, with little help from the US, many Veterans do not get the help they need or get treated for PTSD. Military men and women begin to

2. Mental health issues in the USAF are associated with a stigma which affects how Airmen seek treatment and care. This problem is self-stigma, which according to Patrick Corrigan and Deepa Rao, develops when a person believes the discrimination and prejudice applied to them is in fact truth.1 Self-stigma leads to lowered self-esteem and diminished self-efficacy.2 Self-efficacy is a person’s belief of one’s

Both articles identify the issue of providing mental health services for veterans with an extra emphasis on those that served in Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF veterans). It is no surprise that returning veterans suffer from both visible/invisible (physical and mental) wounds. Most veterans have this “high” expectation that they are going to receive quality care from both the DoD and VA. Unfortunately reality steps in where veterans are slapped in the face because they are receiving a lack of poor quality care all while jumping through Beuracractic hoops. The challenges faced to access these services include resistance, stigma, lack of professionalism, and geographic and/or regional disparities in the distribution of services resources and/or benefits, and the system simply refusing to change.

The Clay Hunt SAV Act is specifically catered toward the Veteran population and does not address the mental health needs of civilians or active duty soldiers. Selective allocation is both beneficial and disadvantageous to veterans seeking help. The goal of selective allocation policies is to target specific beneficiaries that need assistance the most. Statistically, veterans represent about 5%-6% of all suicides in the United States yearly (Britton et al., 2012). While veteran suicide prevention should be a priority in our country, a policy utilizing selective allocation may also discourage veterans from seeking the help they need. True and accompanying researchers (2014) surveyed veterans in order to identify their personal barriers to mental health treatment. They disclosed feelings of anxiety and discomfort when seeking help due to the stigma associated with mental health problems within military culture. The sentiments expressed by the veterans caused them to use unhealthy self-cope skills such as isolation and avoidance in order to manage symptoms of mental health

“The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is home to the United States’ largest integrated health care system” (Mason e.t. al 2016). Because of technological and medical advancement, surviving injuries from war has lead to a greater need for post deployment and discharge care. I often hear the phrase “Freedom is not free”; the mental health of our active duty soldiers and veterans is one area that ends up costing America. Some lose time with their families, some are injured physically and mentally, and some lose their lives.

According to Connor, Jones, Watts, Shiner, and Stecker (2013), “[o]nly about one quarter of active duty troops with psychiatric disorders actually receive treatment services” (p. 280).These researchers conducted a study using a qualitative analysis method by means of an intensive cognitive-behavioral telephone interview lasting approximately forty-five to fifty minutes. The participants consisted of approximately 300 service members who were recruited within a three year time frame, beginning in November 2009 and ending in January 2012.  The makeup of the participants included: 84% percent male, 67% Caucasian, 13% African Americans, and 9% Latinos. The sample identified participants from forty-eight to fifty states including veterans from all branches of military service. Research findings revealed four primary reasons veterans do not seek treatment for PTSD symptoms: concerns about treatment (40%), emotional readiness for treatment (35%), stigma (16%), and logical issues (8%) (p. 282-283). Overall, the research concludes that if there is an increase in veterans seeking treatment for PTSD after serving military time then the primary care physician should emphasize to the veterans upfront certain expectations. These expectations include

This paper is about counselors who choose to work with veterans or those who suffer from PTSD. The topics that will be discussed are the specific job descriptions, the salary one could look to receive, the certification requirements, and the future of this ever growing field.

The client I chose for this diversity interview is 13 year old Willie Hazzard. Willie is the youngest son of Diane Hazzard. Willie is clearly effected by the many generations of poverty, his mother’s addiction, the neglect due to his mother’s addiction, and his exposure to the foster care system. Willie appears to lack trust, he is hostile, and he seems to be a little too familiar with living on the streets. His lack of trust can be attributed to his mother’s lack of parenting when he was little which caused him to be removed from the only home he had ever known and thrust into the child welfare system. He bounced around to a few different homes and was returned to his mother 6.5 years later so he was never able to plant

The mission statement of the VA Social Workers is to eliminate significant barriers to clients in need and offer interventions for veterans and families. It is accomplished by developing and maintaining integrated, in-depth programs in patient care, research, and education (Hoffer, Elizabeth. F., Dekle, Judith. Ward., & Sheets, Carol., 2014). Its proposed 11 percent to 20 percent of Iraq, Afghanistan veterans as well as 30 percent of Vietnam vets encounter (PTSD) posttraumatic stress disorder traumatic incidents like combat can lead to PTSD, military sexual trauma of military service member, and veterans may possibly deal with depression, anxiety in addition to other mental health concerns. Vets distress from these mental health and cognitive

Battling war is something a Veteran knows all too well, but battling the demons in their mind after the war is something that they have to learn how to cope with. One of the most mentioned issues that Veterans face today is a disorder called combat post-traumatic stress disorder. Combat PTSD can easily be defined as a disorder that affects the mental state of the armed forces service member that has been through a difficult or shocking experience during their time served in the military. Experiencing war is not something that everyone can relate to, but it is something that can affect a

Today's veterans offten return home and find themselves experiencing PTSD symptoms as a result of combat-related stress and signfigant amount of exposure to traumatic events. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among United States Veterans has risen to great numbers in recent years due United States involvement in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) thus far within the last 10 years 1,400,000 military service members have been engaged in these conflicts. Once Unitied States troops were deployed and participated in Operation New Dawn (OND) numbers began to rise over 2.5 million troops. (Rosenthal, J. Z., Grosswald, S., Ross, R., & Rosenthal, N. 2011) The veteran population will face exclusive types of stressors

A large segment of military veterans come from rural areas rather than more populated areas in the united states and in turn the access to care has often been identified as an issue in rural areas for veterans (Dittrich, et al., 2015). It has been suggested throughout the literature that a reason for service utilization difficulties is due to stigma and negative beliefs associated with mental health care among veterans (Dittrich, et al., 2015). According to (Fischner, et al., 2016), the VA provides health care to 3.3 million veterans living in rural areas or 36% of all veterans that are currently enrolled in the system. This study also showed that rural veterans were less likely to receive any type of mental

The Civil Rights act of 1964 along with Title VII gives employees the option to sue business owners based on color, race, sexual orientation, and religion. This act, rules on the fact, that individuals can take action if a discrimination or harassment issues happens at the employer’s workplace. It expands Civil Rights statues to provide more protection against people who are victimized due to discrimination. It sets the guidelines for job related issues due to disparate impact or treatment issues. However, this act does not assure that everyone who faces discrimination will be employed because frankly he is a minority. If it is felt that there is a possibility of

Many challenges still remain as Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seek available access to mental health care. These challenges include the resistance and stigma to seek care, lack of