The Battle After Service: Addressing the Silent Struggles of Veterans
For many veterans, the battle doesn’t end when they leave the service. While the physical wounds of war are often visible, the invisible wounds—such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and traumatic brain injuries (TBI)—can be just as debilitating, but far harder to see and address.
The Hidden Cost of Service
Serving in the military often comes with harrowing experiences—from combat situations that put life on the line to the mental and emotional toll of being away from loved ones for extended periods. While some veterans are fortunate to return home without obvious physical scars, too many suffer from the invisible wounds of war, which can affect every aspect of their lives, from relationships to employment. For these veterans, the fight is far from over.
Veterans are 22% more likely to suffer from mental health issues compared to civilians, and many report feeling abandoned by the very system meant to support them. A recent survey revealed that 50% of veterans believe they haven’t received the mental health care they need, and nearly 60% of them feel isolated from their civilian peers. The staggering number of veteran suicides—nearly 17 veterans per day—highlights just how real and urgent this issue is.
But despite the overwhelming evidence of the toll mental health issues are taking on veterans, a profound stigma still surrounds them, often preventing veterans from seeking the care they need.
Breaking the Silence: Overcoming Stigma and Reaching Out
One of the biggest barriers to veterans receiving help is stigma. Many veterans feel ashamed to admit that they are struggling, as they’ve been trained to carry on, push through, and deal with things alone. The very nature of military service, built on strength and resilience, can often be at odds with reaching out for help. The mindset of “I’ve got this” doesn’t always leave room for vulnerability.
But it’s time to change the narrative. By talking about mental health openly, sharing stories of struggle and survival, and making it clear that seeking help is a sign of strength, we can start to reduce the stigma and build a community of support.
Real Stories from Veterans
Jason’s story: “I didn’t think I needed help. After my deployment, I was back home, working, spending time with my family. But something didn’t feel right. I was always on edge, I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it because I thought they’d think I was weak. I’m not weak. I’m a veteran. But eventually, I reached out. And that decision changed everything.”
Jason, like so many others, found that seeking help was the first step in his healing journey. After talking to a therapist and getting connected with peer support groups, he discovered he wasn’t alone, and that his struggles were not a sign of weakness but a consequence of what he had experienced.
The Role of Support Systems
Support systems are crucial in helping veterans cope with their mental health struggles. While the VA offers resources for veterans, many find the system difficult to navigate, or they feel that the care provided is insufficient or impersonal. That’s where organizations like Veterans Crisis Line, The Wounded Warrior Project, and Team Rubicon come in. These nonprofits provide not just crisis intervention but long-term support that helps veterans integrate back into civilian life.
Additionally, peer support groups—where veterans can talk to other veterans who have walked a similar path—can provide a sense of camaraderie and understanding. These groups are vital in reducing the sense of isolation and in providing tangible solutions for those in need.
How You Can Help: Advocating for Change
The good news is that change is happening. Mental health care for veterans is gaining attention, and advocacy efforts are pushing for more funding, better programs, and a greater focus on veteran-specific mental health needs. Organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) are leading the charge in making mental health care a priority for veterans.
Veterans need us to continue pushing for:
- Better access to mental health care, including more funding for VA programs.
- Decreased stigma around mental health struggles, so veterans feel empowered to seek help.
- Comprehensive support systems, including peer-to-peer mentorship, therapy, and career counseling.
What You Can Do Right Now?
If you know a veteran or are a veteran yourself, take that first step. Reach out. It’s okay not to be okay. Seek professional help, or talk to someone who’s been there. If you’re unsure where to start, organizations like the Veterans Crisis Line are available 24/7 and can provide confidential support.
A Future of Hope …
It’s time we stop treating mental health care as a luxury for our veterans—it is a necessity. Together, we can break the silence, remove the stigma, and make sure that no veteran feels alone in their struggle.
If you’re a veteran in need of support, or if you’re someone who cares about veterans, don’t wait. Reach out today. Share your story. Advocate for change. Get involved with organizations that support veterans, and let’s ensure that no veteran has to fight their battles alone. Stay tuned for more resources and updates to help you on your journey to healing.
They said I was just a bad guy and that they weren’t responsible for treating my mental health condition because it had nothing to do with service. Highly decorated but they kicked me out of the Veterans Healthcare Administration when I refused to discuss pre service history. Can I sue? Seems like laws were broken and civil rights violated! They had me scared and walking on eggshells in there!
The USA went from slavery to hardcore Capitalism now labeling people “passive parasitic.”😆
Next up, combat service considered “self harm.” They can go in two directions with that one. Consolidate control over you, or make accusations of borderline personality disorder. The latter might get your benefits or your healthcare ripped off. There’s nothing specifying they have to treat preservice mental health, and they’re damn sure gonna rethink your PTSD benefits if you’re getting them. One things for sure, they don’t want to deal with those individuals, who they see as a waste of time and probably not qualifying for VA care. You snuck into the military basically. Wouldn’t matter if you had a Medal of Honor. You cheated. You stole fizzy lifting drinks.
Did they uncover the personality disorder scandal yet? Used to be PTSD was the trend at VHA now all of a sudden they want to get rid of people and sabotage benefits now character assassination and bogus diagnosis happening. Where is the class action lawsuit? They say half the country isn’t fit to serve because of character problems!
That bullshit diagnosis is the ultimate political weapon and an atomic weapon at the Veterans Healthcare Administration. The psychologists are usually the ones who like to assert certain things if you get in trouble with the law or get pissed off…or they get pissed off. And they don’t go by DSM criteria either. They’ll take little shit you say and do and add it up ..or start screening you for so called personality problems without you even knowing. Then once they’ve established that though their phoney baloney interaction tests, they’ll load your notes with bullshit and take their observations up with others. Round about that time they’ll get upset if others don’t take their guidance, and they’ll drive you away from VHA by being rude and stonewalling. That’s about the time you start to feel like a fool for ever going. In the end, they get whatever it is they want or don’t want so that’s just one reason people should stay away from one on one sessions at VA. PTSD groups are about the safest bet there. They need to be sued out the ass for creating a bad environment.
The military works so well because it’s an authoritarian system. The VA isn’t. Those yo-yos do whatever they want to do or don’t want to do. Now Trump removed the inspector general? Needs to be an IG at every single facility full time and those people in there should be crawling around on all fours if they fuck veterans. That goes for the incompetent denial of care team hiding in bunkers. We need the military to run the place.
All this talk about veterans outreach this and that and they’ve denied care to so many people and they left because of their bullshit… and they aren’t reaching out to them. This is an intolerable situation and the limp penis federal courts aren’t performing their function.
Complain about something there at VHA and their so called mental health experts will pathologize the whole damn thing. So many tricks up their sleeves and it’s the most sophisticated scam in all of human history. One time I needed pills…had to jump through so many flaming hoops that I asked if she’d just cut me a prescription slip so I could go get it filled locally and just pay for it. They had me ready to jump off a bridge.
You got people who they’ve fucked in there and don’t have sense enough to leave. “I’m gonna go in there and get what I earned” becomes a masochistic endeavor in which people simply think that talking to another human being for five minutes is getting what they have coming to them. Complete stupidity and these attorneys need to be dragging some of these dumbasses out of there at this point. Doesn’t anyone have humanity anymore? Where have the federal courts been for decades?
There’s literally no guidelines, rules, laws that specify what those mental health people can do or aren’t supposed to be doing as far as ethics in psychology are concerned. It’s all gentlemen’s agreement and some of them don’t agree. Show me where these guidelines or rules are. Show me where any standards are written anywhere. The veteran is blind as a bat in there and so are the American people. That’s not a safe arrangement at a place that has immunity and unlimited legal resources… and a place that’s known for hiding their dirty laundry and hard to sue. That’s why privatization would be a good thing. At least you can sue. Has nothing to do with people making money off veterans. That’s already happening just by having the 400,000 member workforce.
Just the sheer volume of absurd insinuations, conjecture, and false accusations in there is enough to make people leave. One time I had to call in 5 days early to order medicine because it would take three days to come. I shouldn’t have had to even be calling every month and I’d rather just pick it up at the local pharmacy and pay local doctor. So months pass and everything going good, I look in my notes and some bitch wrote in there that I’d probably been taking too many if I’m calling in early. That wasn’t the case. Mind you I had a doctor in the community and I was just getting prescriptions filled easy, no bullshit accusations, no waits, worth just going ahead and spending the money. I tell you the VA is an unsupervised wreck and infuriating place. It’s almost as if at one point, they just started allowing people who work there to say and do anything. Anyway, I left.
I bet a lot of religious people working at VA make the most amount of bogus claims. If your whole life and world views are based on things not backed by proof or evidence… you can be sure that’s gonna extend to other areas of life. But thanks to billionaire chaos manufacturers standing for “anti Christian bias,” the fiction and fantasy prone individuals get a pass.
Mental health struggles? I was afraid at one point to tell them I was chewing tobacco. Nevermind the fact that they probably couldn’t point out even 10 people out of 360 million people who actually died from that last year… but I don’t even want to hear what they’d have to say and what bogus assertions they’d make if I told them that.
VHA, it’s a system that breeds lying, delusion, immorality, abuse, suffering, and for some, death. Just imagine what sort of delusional narrative that you have to adopt to work there amid so much denial of care and incompetence. A monkey could communicate with people, hand out pills, and give injections…so suffice to say that’s not really making a huge difference in society especially when you look at the price tag it comes with… without the health outcomes. They blame the veteran, Congress, voters, it’s never them.
The VA should be sued for false advertising and misrepresenting their services. They make it seem like you’re fully covered especially if you’re service connected. That’s absolutely not true. Thousands of people with spinal conditions all across the nation have been denied care because they don’t want to pay for surgery. But that’s exactly what they need to live a productive and quality life. And they’ll even pretend to be doing something for people and people will accept that for themselves. That’s how they hide the denial of care. It’s the most evil thing you can think of and people leave the VA because of stuff like that and more…and just no accountability. So they should face class action lawsuit for at least misrepresenting who they are and what they do and don’t do. Because veterans aren’t being told the truth from day one in that system… and people suffer tremendously because of reasonable expectations of healthcare aren’t being met.. and it causes devastating consequences for some. It really messes people’s lives up.
Seen “mental health awareness month” and “fighting the stigma of mental health”.. theater production put on by those who make money selling snake oil in that industry. Meanwhile, you can’t get into the military if you’re crazy. VA can be exclusive and discriminatory if they choose. A job isn’t gonna put up with it and some even do so called personality tests and use those to discriminate. And it’s basically social suicide to advertise mental health problems. Who would date someone who was crazy unless they just wanted to get laid or unless they were crazy themselves? Let’s get real in this country people. You best not show your ass if you’re crazy. Someone will come along and kick it.
Just go to the VA and talk about the weather and sports. Don’t tell those crazy assholes about your life, your family, any inhibitions you might have. They’ll bend and twist anything they can get their hands on into some bogus diagnosis… and the ones doing that shit aren’t even supposed to be diagnosing you. But they will act as an information gathering agent and start painting some crazy picture of you in the notes and expect someone to do something about it. Your relationship with them or anyone else for that matter is meaningless. And if you don’t like it, hopefully you leave. These deluded assholes think that’s their job to behave that way.
With the evolution of warped personality psychology in full bloom..is it really worth sitting in front of some pseudo intellectual with a chip on their shoulder? You think the VA can mitigate some of the politics, ideology, and philosophy that these people adhere to? Doesn’t look like it. Looks like they’re hiring some of those people and not firing them. They should be steering veterans clear of people like that instead. It’s past time to sue.
Most younger veterans are healthy in service and don’t really know what good healthcare looks like when they get out… and they never will if all they do is go to VA for the rest of their lives. The VA knows that and they’re more than happy to provide the least amount of healthcare as humanly possible and label you as entitled and a trouble maker if you disagree. Don’t devalue yourself like that and play the fool. Don’t let them devalue you. Muster all your strength and use it to obtain actual healthcare for yourself elsewhere.
From my experience, the psychiatrists are usually great at VHA. It’s the psychologists and so called licenced clinical social workers that you want to stay away from… especially if not really supervised and not working within the framework on some organized program like the PTSD programs. Otherwise, they’re gonna take anything that you say and do and use it to assassinate your character or spin some bogus diagnosis, several of which might disqualify you from care or make the Veterans Healthcare Administration’s orientation towards you unacceptable. Best bet is to find someone in the community with 25 years or so experience if you’re having major problems. It’s worth the money. If you don’t have the money, get it. Just don’t go to VHA and mess around because it’s not worth the reprocussions.
They’re simply gonna try to pin your problems on you, your family, your genetics, your upbringing, whatever they can pin it on other than service, which is silly because what does it really matter? Anything so that some of those government agents in there can make excuses not to treat people. Difficult cases they’ll not want to deal with so they present a boat load of excuses and rationalizations. The VA doesn’t help the situation when they create loopholes for those kinds of providers to make excuses for their dereliction of duty.