America is the land of opportunity and the land of second chances. People come to America to live a better life, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. When Veterans come back home, all they want is a second chance at life again. They want to come back and be able to start from where they left off. But the government has done very little to help these veterans. The government believes they have done enough with the programs they have created, but it hasn’t had much of a change. The purpose of this essay is to discuss my opinion and what I know about this issue, to benefit The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who are my intended audience. If the government were to put a lot of effort, like they do for pointless issues, there wouldn’t be many struggling veterans. If the government does more to improve every aspect of the reintegration process of veterans, so many benefits would come out of this action. There are a couple of reasons for why we should work toward improving veterans lives. First, there would possibly be a decrease in the veteran suicide levels and a decrease in the substance abuse aspect. Second, less veterans and families will have to worry about living and struggling with mental illnesses. Third, by improving the economical aspect for these veterans, more will find jobs and less will end up on the street homeless. And lastly, the reintegration process won’t be as hard for these veterans, and they will be able to resume a normal life. This essay is not meant to offend in any way, its purpose is to provide a new perspective over this issue, to cause a change for the better.
Suicide has always been a problem in the world, but it becomes more of a serious problem when it has to do with our very own veterans taking t...
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...and also substance abuse classes. Better health programs for both veterans and families. And improve the programs about jobs that we already have.
I can only stress the importance of this topic so much. I can keep going on about how important it is to do something, but that won’t get us the change we need. We need society, the government, and especially the Department of Veteran affairs to work together. This will be an issue that will be going and going for years to come. But I do believe that there is something that can be done to improve this issue.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Lizette. "Home from the War, Many Veterans Battle Substance Abuse." The New York Times 8 July 2008: n. pag. Web.
Basu, Moni. "Why Suicide Rate among Veterans May Be More than 22 a Day." CNN. CNN, 14 Nov. 2013. Web.
Image: "Phoenix Ministries." Phoenix Ministries. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Murray, and Deborah are among some 50,000 veterans who are homeless, or 1.4 million who are considered at risk of homelessness on any given day, due to poverty, lack of support networks, and marginal living conditions in substandard housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They, and all those who put on the uniforms of our nation 's armed services, sacrifice so much to defend the freedoms that we all enjoy and take for granted. Far too many, however, come home unable to defend themselves from the ravages of combat.” (Cole, 2015, Para. 23). Cole also goes on to continue stating “Providing shelter to our female and male veterans is not enough; it is simply one step. The transition from soldier to civilian is often the most difficult part of a veteran 's life. Yet the hardships of going from combat to job application, mortgage payments and working a typical 9-to-5 job, far too often are after-thoughts on the post-military agenda. It is no wonder that long after their active tours, many veterans continue to fight to reclaim their health and well-being.(Cole, 2015, Para.
Treatment for substance abuse vital to reduce prison recidivism rate, The Medical News, March 14, 2008,http://www.news-medical.net/news/2008/03/14/36306.aspx
Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder need to receive better care, because post traumatic stress disorder is curable, damages relationships, and veterans made many dramatic sacrifices. The health care for veterans needs to be more easily accessible.
In an interactive tool map titled “Ending Veteran Homelessness Map,” found on the National Alliance to End Homelessness website, California and Los Angeles’ numbers in regard to veteran homelessness can be found. And even though the numbers of homeless people are huge, the numbers of homeless veterans in our nation are just astounding. It’s a surprising realization that the soldiers that fought and served us with their lives are now homeless. Half of America’s homeless veterans served in Vietnam, two-thirds served for three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone according to the “FAQ About Homeless Veterans” by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. These statistics only serve to emphasize once again how many veterans resort to homelessness. And since few truly effective plans have been created or brought to the fore, at least not until these past few years, it’s no wonder this situation hasn’t gotten any better for
“Ultimately, diagnosis of a substance use disorder or PTSD relies on clinical assessment using DSM criteria. Screening instruments exist that can help uncover or point the way toward a potential diagnosis. For alcohol use disorders, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the AUDIT-Consumption (AUDIT-C) have been widely validated as self-report screening measures. A single-item screening measure was recently validated for drug use disorders consisting of the single question, “How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for nonmedical reasons?” A response of 1 time or more yields a positive screen.” -Returning Veterans With Addictions. (2011, July 11). Psychiatric Times. Retrieved Februa...
War is hell. War is misery, suffering, pain, and anguish. From the days of rocks and sticks to today’s high tech drones and aircraft carriers one thing above all others has remained the same; war is a terrifying, nightmarish endeavor. Unfortunately for those who fight for their nation, the battlefield does not remain in the far off land where the battle took place. In fact, those warriors bring back that battlefield, festering in the hearts and minds, sometimes long after their uniforms have been put in the closet to collect dust. It should come as no surprise that for a variety of reasons all stemming from combat experience, many of our nations Veterans will act in unconventional or perhaps even illegal ways, in an attempt to cope with the stress of their military service. It may be easy for some to say that these men and women, despite their service, are criminals and should be locked away like any other who breaks the law. However, if rehabilitation is truly a goal of our justice system it would not make any sense to take a group of offenders suffering from the side effects of combat experiences and throw them in prison, which is little better than combat anyway. This is why the advent of Veteran’s courts is so important. Due to their service, and the effects that PTSD and other service related conditions may have on their criminal behavior, Veteran’s courts are not only an honorable way to treat our nation’s defenders, but a way in which to protect them from the negative impact of incarceration. These courts, which are based off of drug and mental health courts, are designed to take less serious offenders, who offenses were related to their service connected conditions and keep them away from incarceration and into treatment (...
This year, the United States is set to end over a decade of continuous combat operations in Afghanistan as well as reduce the size of the military in an effort to restrain the growing deficit of the federal government. While some welcome these actions, they will have a significant effect on the men and women of the armed forces. Since the military is now focused on returning to a peacetime posture and cutting personnel, more veterans will be entering the civilian market. These men and women, who come from all walks of American life, will have had vastly different experiences than their civilian counterparts. These veterans will have spent their formative years in a wartime military and while they have so much to offer society, often, their service and they as individuals are stereotyped with unflattering characteristics by civilian managers, which has a negative impact during their post-military search for employment. Some civilians see them as uneducated and suffering from a host of mental problems related to their service. This problem is not only relevant for recent veterans but for all of those who have volunteered to serve in the military. Veteran unemployment is a serious problem for the United States. Those who choose to serve in the military should not be negatively impacted in the civilian marketplace as a result of their sacrifice.
Journal Of American Medical Association (2013, August). JAMA Network | JAMA | Risk Factors Associated With Suicide in Current and Former US Military Personnel. Retrieved from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1724276
A survey of OEF/OIF Veterans identified major rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol-related problems, social and family problems, and suicidal behavior. However the most alarming statistic is not about deployment rates or rates of diagnoses, the most alarming fact is that fewer than 10% of those diagnosed with PTSD or depression have received the recommended the mental health treatment upon re-integration into society. The dropout rate at the Veterans Association (VA) PTSD clinics is distressingly high as well when looking into VA records it was found that 68% of OEF/OIF Veterans dropped out of their prescribed counseling and programs prior to completion (Garcia et al., 2014). Because most of these men were deployed mul...
Veterans who have long services and are influenced by the military’s training have struggles with their civilian life after separating the military. They have to start from the beginning with their stressful, impatient, and painful. On the other hand, our Congress have mandated some benefits for all veterans to share their endurance. However, there are some reasons that many veterans cannot get any benefits from the government like some homeless veterans can’t afford themselves and their family, which is telling our society need to care more about them. For the reason that, our society should take more action to help veterans because of their services and scarified
The United States Department of Veteran Affairs is a government entity in which provides health care, general benefits, services and assistance with burials and memorials to all veterans (Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], 2013). However, there are smaller divisions within the VA that cater to certain interest groups such as women, minorities, homeless and disabled. In focusing on homeless African American women veterans, we are able to examine the policies and programs that cater three of the four interest groups simultaneously. The policies that we will be examining in relation to this group are women veterans’ health policy and homeless women veterans’ policy.
Veterans had a hard time finding employment after the war. Employers considered a veteran’s service in the Vietnam War as evidence of drug addiction, and refused to hire them. The rejections only made the soldier’s struggles adjusting back to normal life even harder and encouraged their drinking and drug use. These harmful habits were their way of coping with the hate and rejection from society while still helping them forget their experiences in Vietnam. Veterans from the Vietnam War were the victims of an unprepared government.
Veteran’s healthcare has recently been the subject of much discussion within American political circles. However, most ordinary Americans know little of this burning issue. Although support for veterans has risen to its highest levels compared to other times in American history, veterans need more than support to survive; they ne...
Veterans have manifested significant mental or behavioral health issues and in turn, health care services have been set to respond to their needs through educating community health care providers to work with veterans, service members and their families. As Zeiss & Karlin (2008) demonstrates, health care system has partnered with national organizations, health services, resources administration and other major mental projects that target the veterans to ensure effective services to mental health concerns. There are many inter-professional roles geared towards veterans due to their wide-range of mental issues including physicians, psychologists, social workers, substance abuse professionals, licensed counselors, public health workers, therapists related to marriage and family issues, nurses, chaplains, law enforcement and occupational therapists. In the course of this discussion, the way veterans mental issues has been addressed will be constricted to nursing setting to describe the scope, severity, behavioral health issues and responses among veterans.
Matthew Miller, et al. "Suicide Attempts And Suicide Among Marines: A Decade Of Follow-Up." Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior 43.1 (2013): 39-49. MEDLINE. EBSCO. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.