The Importance Of Mental Health Care For Veterans

Take care of Veterans 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.

Cook, Walser, Kane, and Woody (2006) did a study that had a goal of getting clinicians to accept Seeking Safety and evaluate its efficacy when treating veterans, in hopes of bridging the gap of parallel services at the VA to treat comorbid SUD-PTSD. This study reinforced the old ways of "cannot teach an old dog new tricks" because of how difficult it is to influence clinician behavior in routine medical care. A more passive approach was taken via a daylong interactive staff training in Seeking Safety, where clinicians were informally surveyed on their willingness to co-lead groups with the study. Four therapists volunteered. And thus, four Seeking Safety groups were formed with 25 veteran volunteers whom had comorbid SUD-PTSD. Of those, 18

The government is not doing all they can to help returning vets, it is incredibly hard and stressful to get treatment, it is woefully underfunded, it doesn 't have the proper classification so therefore treatment is not as accessible. It seems as if the U.S. Government is struggling to pay attention to PTSD treatment, because it may bring the ailment into the public eye, and the Military might suffer in morale and number of volunteers, due to people not wanting the risk of PTSD. The thing about the military is that, “No one teaches anybody had to deal with that. And it also gets back to the, in the military it 's the John Wayne mentality of you don 't show emotion. You 're not allowed to admit that you 're sad or upset or anything ever. It 's not manly.”(Beer Is Cheaper 51:23)

Almost all service members will have reactions after returning from deployment. These behaviors and feelings are normal, especially during the first week at home. The most common mental health problem that some service members develop after witnessing or experiencing combat is PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder). Service members who had the

• Nearly 50% of combat veterans from Iraq report that they have suffered from PTSD. • 40% of veterans report problem alcohol use. • According to estimates from 2010, approximately 22 veterans died as a result of suicide each day in that calendar year.

Gaps in Research The research is limited in that there is enough on just the narrative of substance abuse and enough research on mental illnesses, but research is limited when it comes to dual diagnoses. There are inconsistencies within the research, where researchers fail to address advocacy at the state and federal levels; therefore not addressing the snowball effect of the poor

I found a number of services that are currently available to Veterans that suffer from PTSD and their families such as counseling for individuals, groups, and families at all Va hospitals.

Mental Healthcare for Vulnerable Veterans Introduction “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.

Military service members who are and have been deployed to the middle east show high levels of emotional distress and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both active duty and reserve component soldiers who have experienced combat have been exposed to high levels of traumatic stress. As a consequence, many have gone on to develop a wide range of mental health problems such as PTSD. “According to researchers, PTSD is a long-term reaction to war-zone exposure that can last up to a few minutes, hours, several weeks, and for some a lifetime.” Common symptoms include: emotional numbing, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and depression. If the disorder turns chronic veterans may experience functional impairment (Friedman, M. J. et al., 1994, p.

Mental illness is very common among men and women who serve in our military. According to American Psychiatric Association (2015), military men and women face unique challenges, including actively participating in war, being separated from their families and friends, and various other stressors that come with being deployed. These stresses can lead to anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and substance abuse following their return back home. Addition to mental health illnesses, military personnel during combat may also have encountered traumatic brain injury or multiple concussions. While few Veterans who experience traumatic brain injury do recover, others face long -term consequences that impair their physical and mental health (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2015).

Veterans Health Veterans are everywhere throughout the United States, but just because they are everywhere, doesn’t meant they are getting the proper care. According to the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America, “One in three veterans return home and suffer from some sort of mental health issue.” Their mental health issues vary from post traumatic stress disorder to anxiety and depression. The switch from fighting everyday to being home is tough for the veterans and they need to receive the proper treatment so they can possibly live a life as normal as possible. The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, started a $810,000 program to support these veterans with their issues returning home. The transition is hard, not

The Issues Regarding Access to Healthcare for Rural Veterans in Montana Introduction One of the biggest problems of the current VA administration is access to health care for veterans in rural areas. According to the office of rural health as of

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

Group Therapy Proposal Soldiers & Veterans who Served in OEF/OIF with Combat-Related PTSD Abby Thompson Indiana State University Introduction Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

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.