Veterans

Background

As of 2023, approximately 16.2 million military veterans reside in the United States.1 Texas alone has the second largest military veteran population at around 1.5 million people.2 This sizable community in Texas faces unique mental health challenges as they reintegrate into civilian life, including returning to jobs, communities, homes, and families.

Annually, about 200,000 service members leave active-duty and return to civilian life.3 While transitions are difficult for most people, they are particularly burdensome for veterans and their families as they navigate the complexities in employment, housing, social support, and both physical and mental health.4 Studies indicate that 44 to 72 percent of veterans experience high levels of stress during this period.5 Inadequate support during this transition can have severe consequences.

Mental Health Challenges Among Veterans

Many veterans experience emotional distress after their service, with the severity varying based on individual experiences such as combat exposure, traumatic events, and reintegration difficulties. Common mental health issues include depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder.6 Some of the most prevalent mental health challenges for veterans are as follows:

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Triggered by traumatic events, PTSD manifests through symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, hyperarousal, mood changes, and memory problems.7 Military deployment, with its exposure to traumatic events like combat, death, and training accidents, makes veterans three times more likely to develop PTSD compared to those who have not been deployed.8 The stigma associated with the term “disorder” often deters veterans from seeking treatment.9 Reframing PTSD as a “post-traumatic stress injury” may improve perceptions and encourage more veterans to seek help.10
  • Suicidality: Suicide rates among veterans are alarmingly high. Veterans in Texas make up 14 percent of deaths by suicide in the state.11 In 2021, Texas male veteran suicide deaths drastically outnumbered female veteran suicide deaths 557 to 26.12 Nationally, suicide is the second leading cause of death all veterans under the age of 45.13 The use of a firearm is the leading method (77.5 percent) for Texas veterans.14
  • Military Sexual Trauma (MST): MST describes sexual assault or threatening sexual harassment experienced during military service, including unwanted touching or grabbing, coercion into sexual activity, and offensive remarks.15 MST affects one in three female veterans and one in fifty male veterans.16 Although resilient, veterans who experience MST are at a higher risk of developing mental health and substance use disorders, namely PTSD, depression, and mood swings.17
  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): TBIs, caused by blows or jolts to the head, are prevalent among military members due to exposure to blasts, explosions, and accidents.18 Symptoms of TBI can be physical, cognitive, and sensory/perceptual, including slurred speech, reduced physical mobility, confusion, hearing problems, and mood swings.19 Mental health consequences include depression, anxiety, PTSD, irritability, substance use, and suicidal thoughts.20

Homelessness Among Veterans

Unaddressed mental health issues can contribute to homelessness among veterans. In Texas in 2023:

  • 4,103 veterans were reported as homeless; 
  • 47.8 percent of unhoused veterans (1,964 individuals) had a mental health disorder; and 
  • The percentage of veterans with a documented mental health disorder has increased by 5.3 percent from 2018-23.21

In Texas, the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) administer the Mental Health Program for Veterans (MHPV).22 In 2021, the Texas Legislature allocated $5 million per fiscal year for this program.23 HHSC uses these funds to contract with TVC, local mental health authorities (LMHAs), local behavioral health authorities (LBHAs), and the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (TAMUHSC) to deliver a range of services.24

The MHPV provides veterans across the state with access to:

  • Peer-to-Peer Counseling;
  • The TexVet program;
  • Buddy Check Day;
  • The Veterans Crisis Line;
  • The Texas Veterans Portal;
  • The Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Program; and
  • The Veterans Affairs Make the Connection Program.25

References

  1. United States Census Bureau. Veterans Day 2023: November 11. (2023, November 1). https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2023/veterans-day.html ↩︎
  2. Texas Workforce Investment Council. (2024) Veterans in Texas: A Demographic Study. Office of the Texas Governor. Retrieved from https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/organization/twic/Veterans_in_Texas_2024.pdf ↩︎
  3. Owens, S. (2022, November 8). Supporting the Behavioral Health Needs of Our Nation’s Veterans. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/blog/supporting-behavioral-health-needs-our-nations-veterans ↩︎
  4. Ibid. ↩︎
  5. Ibid. ↩︎
  6. National Veterans Homeless Support. (2024, July 12.) Understanding veterans and mental illness. https://nvhs.org/veterans-and-mental-illness/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw_Na1BhAlEiwAM-dm7G8QeKVWz2mod6CyQHvkqM2flE9iyFSHGhNyZ4axd7d_XNRy-5Sm1BoCF8sQAvD_BwE ↩︎
  7. National Veteran Homeless Support. (2024, July 2). Understanding veterans and PTSD. https://nvhs.org/veterans-and-ptsd/ ↩︎
  8. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2018, July 24). How Common is PTSD in Veterans?. PTSD: National Center for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_veterans.asp ↩︎
  9. Roscoe R. A. (2021). The Battle Against Mental Health Stigma: Examining How Veterans with PTSD Communicatively Manage Stigma. Health communication, 36(11), 1378–1387. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1754587 ↩︎
  10. Lipov E. (2023). Survey Reveals That Renaming Post-Traumatic Stress ‘Disorder’ to ‘Injury’ Would Reduce Stigma. Cureus, 15(5), e38888. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.38888 ↩︎
  11. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2023, October). Texas – veteran suicide data sheet, 2021. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2021/2021-State-Data-Sheet-Texas-508.pdf ↩︎
  12. Ibid. ↩︎
  13. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2023, November). 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2023/2023-National-Veteran-Suicide-Prevention-Annual-Report-FINAL-508.pdf ↩︎
  14. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2023, October). Texas – veteran suicide data sheet, 2021. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2021/2021-State-Data-Sheet-Texas-508.pdf ↩︎
  15. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (n.d.). Military Sexual Trauma. Mental Health. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/msthome/index.asp ↩︎
  16. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2021, May). Military sexual trauma fact sheet – VA mental health. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/mst_general_factsheet.pdf ↩︎
  17. Ibid. ↩︎
  18. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2018, November). Effects of TBI. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/tbi/index.asp ↩︎
  19. National Institutes of Health (NIH). (n.d.). Traumatic brain injury (TBI). National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi ↩︎
  20. Howlett, J. R., Nelson, L. D., & Stein, M. B. (2022). Mental Health Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury. Biological psychiatry, 91(5), 413–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.09.024 ↩︎
  21. Taylor, A. (2024, July). An Examination of Veteran Homelessness in Texas. Texas Homeless Network. Retrieved from https://www.thn.org/2024/06/20/an-examination-of-veteran-homelessness-in-texas/ ↩︎
  22. Texas Health and Human Services. (2023, December). (rep.). Report on the Mental Health Program for Veterans for Fiscal Year 2023. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/mental-health-program-veterans-2023.pdf ↩︎
  23. Ibid. ↩︎
  24. Ibid. ↩︎
  25. Texas Health and Human Services. (2024, June). HHSC Highlights Mental Health Support for Veterans, Service Members. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.texas.gov/news/2024/06/hhsc-highlights-mental-health-support-veterans-service-members ↩︎

Updated on December 13th, 2024



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