By: Albert Kalenscher

Veteran mental health is one of America’s most shameful downfalls, and despite recent efforts to combat it, America still lacks the ability to meet veterans mental health needs. This issue extends into many fields, such as lack of access to mental health care, lack of support from federal veteran services, and inability to accurately diagnose and treat PTSD and severe depression in veterans. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Oregon alone fails to provide proper care for rural veterans, and support that they do offer, especially in addiction services, is inadequate.

Currently, veteran mental health remains an issue that requires action. It is estimated that 20% of veterans returning from war suffer from PTSD, as reported by the Institute of Medicine. On top of that, the VA has been unable to provide support to veterans, evidenced by the backlog of those seeking help, as reported by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The VA reported in 2016 that 20 suicides occur every day, and of those 14 were not under VA care. The VA itself stated in this report that “This is a national public health issue that requires a concerted national approach”.

According to a report by the US National Library of Medicine, after World War I and World War II, veterans were screened for vulnerability to a nervous breakdown. Of those screened, only 2% were excluded on basis of mental health. After World War I, they determined that the excessive amounts of mental breakdowns were based on the selection process as opposed to support after combat. In World War II, the military tried to employ a more rigorous screening process, but this did not materialize in better results.. After the Vietnam War, it became more apparent what was necessary to combat the amount of mental illness that was seen in veterans. They began to create mental stress teams to provide more support, and since then research has continued to grow in respect to how best support veterans.

There is little debate in the argument that veterans need more mental health support. The real debate lies in how to better provide veterans with these services. Some believe more federal funding is required to improve the VA services and make sure more veterans receive support. Others believe veteran support should be dealt with by private health care providers, or targeted through different alternative methods.