VETERAN RETURNING FROM WAR

Long Term Care for Veteran Returning from War

Abstract

In this study, we try to explore the topic of care for veteran returning from war in a holistic context. The main focus of the paper is on long term care veteran soldiers returning from war. The paper also analyzes many aspects of long term care and tries to gauge its effect on troops. Finally, the paper describes U.S. Army's Mental Health Advisory Team who confirmed that troops on repeated or extended deployments were suffering mentally.

Long Term Care for Veteran Returning from War

Introduction

Almost all service members will have reactions after returning from deployment. These behaviors and feelings are normal, especially during the first weeks at home. Contempt the challenges of reintegration, most service members will successfully readjust with few troubles.

In December 2006, a report by the U.S. Army's Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT) confirmed that troops on repeated or extended deployments were suffering mentally. (The MHAT has periodically released reports documenting soldiers' mental health conditions during the course of the war.) The 2006 report, which studied soldiers serving in Iraq in late 2005, revealed that redeployed soldiers were much more likely to be suffering from a mental health disorder (Dao, 2011). Overall, the Army reported, nearly 14% of U.S. troops were suffering from acute stress. For soldiers on their first deployment, 12.5% had the condition, but for those stationed in Iraq a second time, the rate increased to 18.4%--a substantial jump, according to mental health experts (Mavor, 2006).

Supporters of the U.S. government's current level of mental health care for veterans say that the military is doing everything in its power to care for afflicted soldiers. It is in the best interest of the country for troops to be mentally as well as physically fit because only then will military personnel perform capably in combat zones, they say. "We do want to take care of our soldiers," insists Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. James Peake (Phillips, 2011).

Proponents note that in recent years, the administration of President Bush (R) and Congress have enacted legislation increasing government spending on veterans' health care programs. Furthermore, they say, some of that money has been earmarked specifically for mental health care initiatives. Those funding increases have allowed the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide comprehensive mental health care for troops returning to civilian life, backers contend. In particular, they say, financial support from Congress has allowed various VA clinics to hire additional staff to accommodate the growing number of veterans returning home with mental illness (Mavor, 2006).

Many defenders of the government's policy on soldiers' mental health care note that support programs for troops have been available for much of the time during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. For instance, they point out, the Defense Department has a telephone hotline known as "Military OneSource" that enables soldiers and their family members to get professional mental health assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, proponents say, the Department of Veterans Affairs has ...