Substance Abuse in Returning Combat Veterans Returning combat veterans have difficulties contributing to our society based on their problems with substance abuse. There is an issue of returning combat veterans not being able to afford treatment for their illnesses, so they resort to self-medicating and use drugs and alcohol. Although it is worth considering that some combat veterans manage to escape their addiction for some time, but will usually end up relapsing and only hurt themselves more. We may also be concerned about some combat veterans not being able to adjust to their new lives and resorting to substance abuse a method of stress relief. Returning combat veterans are unable to help the country they protected due to not being able …show more content…
Andrew J. Saxon, MD, in his online article, “Returning Veterans with Addictions”, argues that “Recent work also provides encouragement that some medications can simultaneously treat substance abuse and PTSD.” (Andrew J. Saxon, “Returning Veterans with Addictions”). This proves that there is still hope for those have fallen to substance abuse. It means that with enough treatment that any returning veteran might be able to recover, right? Wrong. Saxon later asserts that “It remains to be determined whether integrated treatment for pain and substance abuse would improve outcomes for active troops and veterans who have both problems.” (Andrew J. Saxon, “Returning Veterans with Addictions”). This indicates that treatment might even worsen the addictions of returning combat veterans. This is a valuable point because it means that trying solve substance abuse within returning veterans is like a gamble, some might escape but more likely, it’ll only worsen the already horrible situation that combat veterans are in. Returning combat veteran might be able to escape substance abuse with proper treatment but it is more likely that they will only end up in a worse situation than
Veterans Essay , Hunter Bradford What a Veteran means to me. It means, freedom, honor, putting their life on the line everyday. So that me, my mom, my dad, my sister, my grandparents,and the rest of my family and friends can have freedom. We all have freedom and we owe them our respect because if it was not for God and a Veteran who knows how this world would be.
For the last six years, I have been working in the substance abuse industry in both inpatient and outpatient settings. It would be fair to say that most people that are in need of substance abuse treatment have a co-occurring disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety. These people are diagnosed by a psychiatrist or medical doctor and are typically given medication to help the patient. However, the problem can be that if a person sees a psychiatrist and is not honest about their substance abuse history the mental diagnosis can be deceiving.
In the book, Soldier Boys, by Dean Hughes two boys who are on opposite sides of the war tell their struggles and stories of battle in the War and how their two different lives collide together. The author of the book, Dean Hughes, has spent 7 years doing research on World War II and finding information about the war. Dean Hughes has interviewed war veterans, studied newspapers that were written in the time of World War II, and read hundreds of books like, “The Burden of Hitler 's Legacy” by Alfons Hecks to help his understanding of this time period and events. With all this information and facts he collected, he wrote the book, Soldier Boys. The years that World War II took place was in between 1939 to 1945 and around those years the holocaust
A veteran is someone who has served a long time in the military, no matter what their age. Veterans are important to our freedom because while serving their time, you have to remember that they are fighting for your right to be free in the United States. Without them, there wouldn’t be any freedom in this world. They fight for what they believe in and what is right for the country. You have to remember, these war vets are putting their lives on the line for people they don’t even know.
In order to understand the whole story of a veteran people need to see how they were treated after the soldier returned
Students at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School have started a new kind of public service. More than 50 young men from the all-boys school volunteer as pallbearers at funerals for homeless veterans, according to the Associated Press. If the family of a homeless veteran cannot be located within 90 days of their death, then the Dignity Memorial Network's Homeless Veterans Program provides them with a casket, funeral home director John Desmond told TODAY. But, because the veterans don't have family present, they don't receive pallbearers to help bury them.
Veteran Benefits The issue of veteran benefits in the United States is not taken as seriously as it should be in our country, even though it is a growing problem that needs to be addressed. The lack of available funding for veterans is especially obvious when compared to that available for lower income citizens, or even illegal immigrants. Also, what does exist appears to fall short in taking care of veteran’s needs. Considering that these veterans are people who have risked their lives fighting for this country, the fact that they are not receiving immediate benefits or even what they have earned is unfair.
In the recent years, the number of mental health professionals providing for the military has dwindled, there is almost no combat-specific psychologists left, and the wait time to be treated for a mental health issue by the Department of Veterans Affairs has drastically increased. Examining MilitaryOneSource and the Department of Veterans Affairs, two of the most highly regarded military health providers, the lack of mental health services for veterans and active duty members has diminished and has resulted in a multitude of veterans going untreated or even ending their own life instead of receiving the help they
Another issue that veterans struggle with when they come back from war is mental illnesses like PTSD. According to “bringing the war back home”, “Of 103 788 OEF/OIF veterans seen at VA health care facilities, 25 658 (25%) received mental health diagnosis(es)”. This disabilities can make getting into the workforce much more difficult and even leave veterans to live on the streets from lack of employment. The solution discovered from this research is that if these mental diseases are caught early enough, the veterans will receive the help they need and be able to continue their normal civilian lives. “Targeted early detection and intervention beginning in primary care settings are needed to prevent chronic mental illness and
Veterans had returned home to compete for jobs in a slowing economy, which resulted in a high cost of living, unemployment, labor strikes, and even race riots” (Arnesen, 2011, para. 3). Clearly, incoming World War II servicemen had something to worry and be afraid about. The U.S government also was scared about what would happen to veterans, and they started devising a plan. And this is exactly how the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act was devised, and why it has had such an effective impact on American society for
Veterans Day is distinct from most holidays. It is something that should hold true to everyone’s heart. No matter if you personally are a veteran or not, chances are you know someone that is. On November 11th, we celebrate all the wonderful things that military veterans have done for us in protecting our country. The United States set aside this day to honor our veterans, however we should honor them as much and as often as possible.
“ I am left with basically nothing. Too trapped in a war to be at peace, too damaged to be at war. " Army veteran, Daniel Somers, is one of many who have struggled with the transition from military life into civilian life. A major concern of the veteran population is suicide.
In the United States, serving in the military is seen as a model of true patriotism, and rightfully so. Service members train for 10 weeks in their transition from civilian to a soldier. They train to be able to endure all the hardships that may come their way. Service members have to be in the best physical shape to serve and because of all that they do, they are thought of as brave and selfless people. Service members make extreme sacrifices to defend our country and act selflessly by doing so; it is fitting that they are seen as heroes by many Americans.
In the United States thousands of veterans are not able to leave behind the horrors and traumatic events they experience while at war. They bring the war home and have to re-experience it in their minds each and every day, no matter how much time has passed since their last battle or traumatic
Many soldiers have “recovered from their traumatic experience with the right care” and can