Special Needs Of Veterans: A Case Study

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

In his article, Creamer discusses and differentiates how civilian and veteran cases of PTSD are treated. He also discusses the details of PTSD and the treatments and classifications of it. This article receives its credibility by being published in the popular medical journal called the “International Review of Psychiatry”.

I believe that it is the best interest of veterans, whom have served the military in any capacity to be afforded not just medication, but also some form of counseling. Being a veteran myself I have experienced: over medicating by the government, not receiving any form of counseling, and when I was given an appointment it was six months from the day that it was scheduled.

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.

service members who have been deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan have returned with an range of signs and symptoms that we are now calling post-deployment syndrome (PDS). Traumatic brain injury, combat stress, blast injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, or post-concussive syndrome each fit into the variety of symptoms called PDS. Four hundred thousand previously healthy service men and women now live with PDS that, at times, causes them to be entirely disabled or to suffer so much that they even may take their own lives. This number may seem shocking, however PDS doesn’t just affect these service members, reservists, and veterans, but also their friends, family members, employers, communities, and even the very health care workers who are desperately trying to help them. Surprisingly, despite how common this condition is, it still remains puzzling to fully define and

Once they arrived in the war zone, Army, Navy, and Air Force nurses experienced professional strains of working with young, severely wounded casualties who were often younger than them. A Navy nurse recalled,

The nurses experienced so much trauma in such a little time, that most suffered from PTSD. The experiences that brought on this PTSD was the shock of conflict in Vietnam, the problematic return to a country that did not understand their participation or experiences, the denial of their work in Vietnam, and a sense of isolation from their male counterparts in Nam and their female counterparts back home as well as absence of veterans service groups upon returning to home. The nurses were not recognized for the job that they had done, which allowed many soldiers to return home to their families.

Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a non-profit charity that provides lifetime support to veterans and their families. More than 1 million veterans a year have been helped by changing their lives in an encouraging way. Our main goal is to offer veterans with meaningful employment so that they can begin their civilian life since serving our country. There are job fairs throughout the year that provide resources that ensure the veterans a chance to take part in new jobs which is a huge goal of ours. The DAV also offers support to more than 700,000 veterans in getting them to and from medical appointments and helps more than 300,000 with benefit claims annually. There are almost 1,300 chapters and 1.3 million members across the country. This gives veterans and their families the resources they need and ensures them that our nation will keep the promises that they made when they served our country.

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

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

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).

Military Pathway (2013) concluded “Military life, especially the stress of deployments or mobilizations, can present challenges to service members and their families that are both unique and difficult”. Hence, it is not surprising that soldiers returning from a stressful war environment often suffer from a psychological condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This paper provides a historical perspective of PTSD affecting soldiers, and how this illness has often been ignored. In addition, the this paper examines the cause and diagnosis of the illness, the changes of functional strengths and limitations, the overall effects this disease may have on soldiers and their families, with a conclusion of

T. Stecker, J. Fortney, F. Hamilton, and I. Ajzen, 2007, address that mental health symptoms have the likelihood to increase within post deployment for military veterans, especially for the ones who have seen combat. An estimated quarter of recent war veterans who are currently receiving care in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Health Care System have reported mental health problems. Soldiers who have served in Iraq come home suffering from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Statistics of Iraq soldiers meeting the criteria for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is greater than the soldiers who served in Afghanistan. The mental health symptom rates for soldiers who served in Iraq were as high as 20% for PTSD, 18% for anxiety, and 15% for depression.

Nearly ten years ago I entered the Army service. Through these years my work in the medical service as a medical laboratory technician, biomedical research, and most recently as a registered nurse has challenged me to examine my own practice and technical skills. I have learned about compassion, respect, empathy, equity, understanding, benevolence, and other attributes that contribute to being a proficient nurse. Our service members, families, and military culture present unique challenges that demand diversification, flexibility, and adaptation to sometimes overwhelming circumstances. My love for our military men and women and the families that stand behind them causes me to seek best practices, and innovation. The military has done a tremendous job at advancing battlefield trauma care, and statistics indicate that we have standard setting rates of battlefield lifesaving.