Veterans Mental Health Essay

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. Having a good understanding of this will brighten your mind on how much they devote their lives to this. When anyone chooses to go into the military, they will spend many months away from their family and loved ones. These vets defend everyone no matter what race, gender, age, or religion and they show that by giving us back the freedom that they fought for. To

Many veterans are coming home with a psychological disorder. “Between 2000 and 2011 nearly one million veterans were diagnosed with at least one psychological disorder and almost half had multiple disorders, according to a 2014 report of the Institute for Medicine” (Quigley). With almost one million veterans diagnosed with at least one psychological disorder, more veteran’s hospitals need to be built to help treat the ill. In addition, there has been an increase in veterans in need of mental health services. “There has been a surge in demand by veterans for mental health services since returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq, with some local providers in California reporting increases of 40 to 60 percent in the numbers of veterans seeking mental health services” (Quigley). Because California had a massive increase in the number of veterans in need of mental health services, more veterans’ hospitals were needed to treat the mentally ill. Since more and more veterans are seeking health services, more veteran’s hospitals are needed to treat the ill.

Mental health issues are a real problem for post-war veterans. The most prevalent mental health problem seen in veterans is Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that follows the experience of a traumatic event. Of the 2.7 million American veterans that served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, at least 20% were diagnosed with PTSD (Veterans Statistics). PTSD affects everyone differently but the most common symptoms of PTSD include: reliving the event, increased anxiety, and avoiding any reminders of the trauma (Robinson,Segal, Smith). These symptoms negatively affect their life

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. We celebrate Veterans Day every year on November 11th to honor the men and women who served and is still serving our wonderful country. We shouldn’t honor a veteran just once a year but everyday because they are protecting us everyday. When we say the pledge in the mornings we should be thinking about our veterans and what they did for us.

After all the things that homeless veterans have done for this country, they need more help.

During the turbulent times of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men entered the warzone and came face-to-face with unimaginable scenes of death, destruction, and turmoil. While some perished in the dense Asian jungles, others returned to American soil and were forced to confront their lingering combat trauma. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried provides distinct instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and reveals the psychological trauma felt by soldiers in the Vietnam War.

Today there is an outrage in our Veteran community of how terrible the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and their lack of caring and funding for our heroes. In this paper I will give facts on how terrible this problem really is, whether it is our homeless Veterans, Veterans who die waiting for help from the VA because they cannot afford other healthcare, or the horrid waiting times in order to get any help.

“... O say does that star spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Veterans Day is an official holiday we celebrate on November 11th, we celebrate all those living and dead who served in the US armed forces. The formal name of Veterans day was Armistice day and was changed to Veteran’s day by President Eisenhower in 1954. The first Veterans day celebrated was on November 11th 1919, a year after World War I ended. Veterans day started when there was an agreement signed in 1918 on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to end World War I.

Veterans do a lot for us by defending our country and our home. We thank them by having a full day dedicated to our veterans. Three reasons that I think veterans should be thanked for are; going out to defend our country when no ones else does, I also want to thank you for demonstrating a great work ethic and doing all of this work for people you don’t even know.

Mental health stigma in the military is defined as, “a dynamic process by which a service member perceives or internalizes this brand or marked identity about himself or herself or people with mental health disorders.”1 The perceived mental health stigma in the military stems from proximal and distal impacts.1 The proximal impacts include interpersonal outcomes, coping mechanisms, attitudes toward treatment and the distal impacts include the personal well-being, readiness, quality of life, treatment-seeking, and treatment success.1 The United States Air Force has been promoting treatment-seeking through various programs to reduce stigma and facilitate a widespread culture shift that views mental health in the context of readiness and resilience.1 The Air Force has attempted to redefine mental health help-seeking as a sign of strength instead of a sign of weakness.1 Additionally, the Air Force has quadrupled the availability of mental health programs over the past six years.2 The Air Force has provided over seven mental healthcare treatment options to Air Force members.3 These options include: the airman and family readiness center, military family life consultants, installation chaplain, mental health clinic, behavioral health, family advocacy program, and master resilience

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, is a mental disorder that most often develops after a veteran experiences a traumatic event. While having this illness, the veteran believes their lives are in danger. They also may feel afraid or feel they have no control over what is happening. If their feeling does not go away, the symptoms may disrupt the person 's life, making it hard to continue daily activities.

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

Nearly 20 percent of 30,000 suicides are attributed to veterans each year (Cesar, Sabia & Tekin, 2012). This number represents a substantial number of military personnel suffering with mental health problems. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (2011) PTSD impairs one’s ability to function in social or family life, which includes instability, marital problems, divorce, family conflict, and difficulty in parenting (p. 3). PTSD causes much impairment and has many contributing factors; for that reason, it is important to discuss the quality of services available to

Being in the military often puts a toll on the men and women who fight for our freedom mentally, resulting in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs the only benefit guaranteed to veterans for PTSD is access to a Peer Support Group. Other organizations such as Real Warriors offer advice to seek out medical help through speaking with a VA approved medical doctor to confirm PTSD and then become eligible for