Veterans Adapting to Civilian Life

When I first started to research about how the American society helps discharged soldiers, I first wanted to know what type of help society offer to them. The article “10 Organizations that Help Veterans Transition to Civilian Life” published by Vista College helped me view a plethora of organizations that offer help to veterans. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) organization helps “connect veterans to one another and educate them on,” issues and benefits they could get when transitioning

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.

In war or peace, the military is a hazardous profession, and extensive service means more risk of serious injury (Morin, 2011). One out of every ten veterans alive today was seriously injured at some point while serving in the military, and three-quarters of those injuries occurred in combat (Morin, 2011). For many of these wounded veterans, according to Pew Research Center, the physical and emotional consequences of their wounds have endured long after they left the military (Morin, 2011). Almost all veterans are proud of their service, in spite of serious injuries (Morin, 2011).

In actuality, veterans continue to face barriers on their process for resocialization. Despite the effort that society puts in to ease such transition veterans find difficulty adapting to modern society due to a warfare identity. The military trains its veterans with the purpose to make them stronger in personality as well as to teach them how to control their emotions. Veterans are force to assimilate the military culture by detaching from their very own self-identity prior to the military. The identity that has been created by the military is also responsible for the negative stigma that our veterans’ currently suffer in today’s society. They are often portray as, murderous and violent. These traits are not strictly related to combat, but

Veterans transitioning from the rigorous and demanding lifestyle of active duty to a blue collar nine to five face unique obstacles that if go unchecked can have substantial on their mental health and over all well-being. It’s no secret that PTSD has been a hot button issue in recent years. It’s a term that has become synonymous with those serving tours in combat zones such as Iraq an Afghanistan. This mental condition brings with it a plethora of symptoms including depression, anxiety and insomnia. Not to mention high levels of stress that can have varying effects from person to person. PTSD can also come as a result of occupations outside of the military such as police, fire fighters and health care workers. This essay will be exploring how

Even though there is a high risk of mental health problems among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been no systematic studies of mental health care utilization among these veterans after deployment (Hoge, Auchterlonie, and Milliken, 2006). Such studies are an important part of measuring the mental health burden of the current war and ensuring that there are adequate resources to meet the mental health care needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (Hoge, Auchterlonie, and Milliken, 2006). When a person is in the military, he or she may experience a lot of traumatic events; therefore, PTSD becomes more prevalent in their lives post-war. There was a research conducted after other military conflicts that has shown that deployment stressors and exposure to combat result in considerable risks of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, substance abuse, impairment in social functioning and in the ability to work, and the increased use of health care services (Hoge, Castor, Messer, McGurk, Cotting, & Koffman, 2004).Veterans in America have a history of mental illness, thus it is important that there are a variety of treatment options available for veterans. Most veterans with mental health problems refused to go in for services because

The wars of Iraq and Afghanistan have not only renewed the appreciation for our nation’s military, but it has also raised awareness about the sacrifices and the culture that is produced through the ranks in uniform and also amongst veterans. While it is important to note how the Department of Defense, and The Department of Veteran Affairs have significantly ramped up their efforts to address and identify the transitional problems that affect many veterans, barriers to treatment remain along with the challenge to provide successful outreach through benefits and mental health services to the Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), veteran population.

Veterans face many obstacles and barriers to overcome when transitioning back into civilian life. Macdermid & Riggs (2014) discusses how military deployment has many consequences for an individual and their families. According to Sayer, Frazier, Orazem, Murdoch, Gravely, Carlson, &Noorbalooci (2011) all military branches already require their troops to complete a reintegration program before discharge but these programs typically only

America has failed in providing quality physical and mental health care for veterans who do not have the money or the insurance to pay for it themselves. This paper will attempt to uncover approximately how many veterans actually fall through the cracks by asking simple questions; how many are homeless, how many report having PTSD, how many have a substance abuse disorder, how many end up in divorce because of domestic violence?

I. Introduction Although veterans go to war to fight for our freedom, they are not always treated with the respect and honor they deserve or given the help they need after returning home. When veterans come home after war, they bring a lot of baggage with them. The way we treat them as a society and the kind of medical or mental treatment they receive will help them to deal with that baggage and learn how to become assimilated into society.

Another common health issue that commonly comes along with veterans is depression. More times the not depression can be cause from a painful experience such as a lost friend. Depression can sometimes not come immediately and is possible of coming out of the blue. While returning from deployment if is an individual has had friends lost or injured he or she might have strong feelings of guilt or regret. The survivors of these incidents my have lost trust in anyone and typically begin to remove themselves from social environments. Along with depression usually comes along either increase or decrease in weight due to change in appetite. These health problems can be the opener to a more broad range of further health issues including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even death. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally (Who.int, 2015).

Moreover, when it comes to finding post-military employment, Veterans frequently face more difficult personal and medical issues when compared to their civilian equivalents. Many vets have PTSD as a result of their service in combat; many have both physical and mental disabilities, such as a traumatic brain injury. A 2010 study in Psychiatric Services found that possibly half of all Iraq, Afghanistan and Gulf War-era Veterans accessing services through the Veteran’s Administration have had issues reintegrating into the civilian sector and have found “some” to “extreme” difficulty in social functioning within civilian life (Sayer, 2010). Additionally, the percentage of Gulf War I and Gulf War II vets reported as ‘long-term’ unemployed (that is, 27 weeks or greater) was 46.9% and 36.1% respectively, in 2010. Regarding labor force participation, veterans were somewhat more likely than nonveterans to participate in 2013 among 18 to 24‑year‑olds and 35 to 44‑year‑olds (U.S. Bureau of Labor,

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of the obesity epidemic on the military community and to help develop a conceptual framework that will assist in a future literature review. This paper will identify the prevalence of obesity in the military community. In addition, this paper will discuss the implications of the obesity epidemic on the military community as well as the current steps being taken to help decrease the growing incidence of overweight and obesity among the military community.

This study is based on a newspaper article about obesity and how the National Health Service (NHS) will offer free cookery classes in war on the obesity crisis to overweight and obese families as well as doctors and nurses (Donnelly, 2015). The World Health Organisation (2015) has classed obesity as a worldwide epidemic that has seen numbers double since the 1980’s. The WHO (2015) define obesity as an individual having a Body Mass Index equal or higher than 30 and has been linked to non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, muscoskeletal and some cancers.

According to a Tanielian and Jaycox (2008) study, as of September 2014 there were approximately 2.7 million American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars”. Of the 2.7 million at least 20% of the veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan wars obtained PTSD and/or depression. However, it was noted that when interviewed, the military counselors stated that they believe that the percentage rate of veterans with PTSD was much higher. The number is said to continue to increase when combined with traumatic brain injury (TBI).