Causes Of Depression Among Veterans

Hundreds of thousands of United States veterans are not able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield (“Forever at War: Veterans Everyday Battles with PTSD” 1). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason why these courageous military service members cannot live a normal life when they are discharged. One out of every five military service members on combat tours—about 300,000 so far—return home with symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to the Rand Study, almost half of these cases go untreated because of the disgrace that the military and civil society attach to mental disorders (McGirk 1). The general population of the world has to admit that they have had a nightmare before. Imagine not being able to sleep one

PTSD, depression, and the lack of treatment should all be taken into consideration when thinking about the military. Depression in soldiers can be caused by the length of deployment because they don’t see their families or friends for months.

There is a common belief that many combat veterans are suffering; many from invisible wounds that affect them in many ways. The challenge that the VA and other government agencies face is determining which veterans need help, there are several factors that affect this, from the individual’s desire to accept help, to the stigma that most veterans have accepted, which is “if they ask for help, they are weak.” During separation from the military it is a critical time for all soldiers, this time provides an opportunity for the military, the VA and our government to intercede and work with men and women while they are still soldiers. Veteran suicide is an epidemic, the number of veterans taking their life daily has been steadily growing, the statistic published by the VA is that twenty-two veterans end their lives every day (Suicide Data Report, 2012); steps have been taken to curb this number but the efforts have been woefully inadequate.

Rates of trauma and mental illness are reported to be disproportionately higher among American veterans, especially those of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The barriers to care after civilian reentry further disadvantage this already vulnerable population. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the longest sustained US military operations since the Vietnam era, sending more than 2.2 million troops into battle and resulting in more than 6,600 deaths and 48,000 injuries. Veterans are at risk mental health challenges, as well as family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and joblessness. Veterans have disproportionate rates of mental illness, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and military sexual trauma.

99). Similarly, both articles mentioned PTSD symptoms as being a barrier overlapping with depression. Baker, Kilmer, Lemmer, Goldsmith, and Pittman (2012) provided more in-depth information that focused primarily on PTSD and depression as to where Connor et.al (2013) looked into more barriers other than the overlapping symptoms as being reasons for barriers for treatment in combat veterans.  Baker et. al (2012) examined 2 significant mental  health issues including PTSD and depression in OEF/OIF combat veterans in their entire research study.  These researchers found that health related quality of life (HRQoL) is highly affected in both disorders. Although the study used a clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS) as well as standardized and structured interviews conducting to the DSM-5 criteria, the fact alone remains that the overlapping symptoms could be difficult for veterans to understand. The participants in this study consisted of 200 OEF/OIF veterans who completed an interview as well as self-report questionnaires. The sample included 95% men, 45% active duty, 55% veteran; ages 19-52, median 27%; 77% non-Hispanic/Latino, and 80% white. The findings revealed that PTSD and depression have overlapping symptoms as anhedonia, concentration, and insomnia. In conclusion, the results from the

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

The amount of combat soldiers who commit suicide is often shown an extreme expression of PTSD. {Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry}. Phil Harvey and Lisa Conyers- coauthors of "The Human Cost of Welfare." has mentioned that " We'll give you enough for a reasonably comfortable life, but we won't help you find a job." {latimes.com} Unemployment for these brave men when coming home is also a big problem. It's not easy for these men to find a job after their deployment because people often seen the Veterans as

President Obama once said, “ Every veteran who has fought for America has a home in America”. Here, the President was stressing how important helping those who served is. However, every veteran in America does not have a home. In fact many are homeless. This is a very serve issue in America because, returning to normal life after serving is a very difficult task to complete alone. Additionally, many veterans return with a service related disability. Some of those are physical and others are mental or emotional. One of the most common is PTSD. PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder and occurs when one has witnessed a trauma that the brain cannot process. Stress is a trigger for PTSD and the dreams and vivid images only get worse with adrenaline. On top of

The information presented from the two articles above can be supported by the article by Frueh and Stencel. Veterans ' experiences in war are likely to go beyond the instantaneous and physical effects, which may affect their entire lives. According to Frueh and Stencel, more than 2.2 million troops from the United States served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars (10). In the two wars, more than 6,600 troops from the United States lost their lives. Frueh and Stencel assert that a substantial percentage of veterans experience enormous difficulties while in transition. The use of statistics is helpful in elevating the quality of the article. They acknowledge that veterans are faced with far-reaching challenges in their effort to adjust to civilian life. For example, health problems- such as PTSD and traumatic brain injuries- are common among veterans. However, with high jobless rates and shrinking aid programs, these aren 't the best days to be

Many veterans are unable to leave behind the trauma of Vietnam and psychologically return home. They struggle with a variety of extremely severe problems that neither they nor their families, friends, or communities knew how to understand

One of the most well known and most common mental conditions that afflict veterans is PTSD. PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is caused by having high stress levels at any given time. While anyone can get PTSD, Veterans acquire it most often due to their strict training and the horrors of war. Richard Weaver, a veteran that served as a Navy Medic for two years in Iraq shared an example of what PTSD is like. He says "I could be in a classroom here and somebody would walk past and drop a book. Well, that’s a loud “pop” sound in an echoing hallway, and I’m set off for the rest of the day. I’m looking around. I’m nervous" (“Two”). Having PTSD greatly affects everyday life for veterans. For Richard Weaver, all it took was

Give them meaning” (Cleland).Once they get home , close to no one understands them. Their doctors, friends, and even family members can’t help them, so they end up getting alienated by the people they love most. Until we understand how to help the returning veterans, nothing will ever get better for them. Topic: war stays with veterans, and it always manages to find to mess with them

What are returning veterans really experiencing?Did their stress get released or may they still suffer. Many of our returning veterans faces a lot of problems from problems ranging from PTSD to no jobs.These problems are important because some veterans commit suicide because they can’t get help.Homelessness is among the most urgent problems facing our veterans and simply the easiest problem to fix.Upon returning home, they may struggle to find employment, obtain felicitous health care or secure treatment for war-related mental illness and this is the problem when the government failed to help the returning veterans

Historical facts reveal that veterans struggled with re-integration of life and communities they left behind and understood after the Civil War and other wars that followed. During pre-eras veterans were exposed to traumas that resemble those of the twentieth century e.g. trapped in post-war nightmares, injuries, shell shock, effects of depression, and long-term ramifications of psychological and physical health because of war experience (Martin, 2012, p. 12-15).

Class content for this week class did a good job at highlighting possible triggers that aging Veterans face as they begin to transition into different phase of life. One of the issues that stood out most to me from the video we watched in class was transitioning to retirement and how often times that can be the onset for many Veterans to reflect on repressed memories. The flood of these memories will often start a downward mental health spiral for many of these Veterans. If the mental health issue id not treated properly comorbid issues can develop such as substance abuse to cope with memories, homelessness and or suicidal ideation.