Introduction
Today, many Americans believe that they have happy and safe lives due to several available resources to cover their needs. However, despite the intention to create the best services and opportunities, the U.S. government is not able to protect all the citizens and remove social inequalities or health disparities. In this paper, I want to focus on the problem that remains invisible in the countries for years, the mental health of American veterans. Regardless of the principles of democracy, respect, and dignity, veterans who devoted several years of their lives to serving the country are challenged by a variety of unpredictable outcomes. In addition to their military experiences, memories, and interpersonal relationships, the attitude of President Trump toward this community influences veterans. Even the strongest soldiers become vulnerable to multiple health risks and behavioral changes, and depression is one of the problems military families face. It is not enough to address a medical expert and ask for help, and awareness of this disease background is critical. Veteran depression has many forms and outcomes, and family members should know how to support their beloved ones.
What Is Depression?
Human behavior is unpredictable, and many studies in the fields of medicine, psychology, and sociology aim at investigating its changes, predictors, and outcomes. Sadness, hopelessness, and tiredness are common feelings because of different reasons. Sometimes, it is a single case when a person experiences mood changes. However, when the frequency of such feelings increases or becomes regular, medical experts define such conditions as a mental health problem or disorder and call it depression. Using the findings of many scientists, Kraus et al. explain major depressive disorder or, simply, depression as a common psychiatric disease that is still poorly diagnosed and undertreated. It’s main
symptoms include regular feelings of sadness and hopelessness, loss of purpose, appetite, and interest, weight changes, and trouble thinking. As a rule, these signs have to be severe enough to be recognized not just as a reaction to some event, person, or action, but as a challenge to daily activities. Depression may be observed in people of different ages, including a child who becomes irritated, an adolescent who feels anger, an adult who loses interest in life, or an older adult who forgets something.
As a rule, depression is not easy to diagnose and predict, but healthcare providers recommend following simple rules in order to prevent the growth of related symptoms and complications. People should improve their dietary habits, be involved in physical exercises, and manage their sleep. The control and analysis of psychological and physical changes help to understand if something goes wrong. In everyday life, it is possible to hear that an individual is depressed about the recent job challenge and the inability to get a promotion. Personally, in my family, depression is rarely observed because we try to keep a healthy lifestyle, discuss all problems openly, support each other, and motivate for further development and progress. I like the way our family members built relationships, but, unfortunately, not all people are able to follow the same way. Depression may emerge abruptly or continue growing during a certain period of time. However, as soon as it happened to a person and diagnosed by an expert, it is necessary to be ready to treat it but never hope that it could go away another day.
Depression Among Veterans
Depression is a dangerous mental health disorder that is able to change the lives of many people, regardless of their age, occupation, and family history. Still, depression among veterans turns out to be a real challenge either directly for a person who has it or indirectly for a family. In the United States, there is the Department of Veteran Affairs, the representatives of which serve and care for American veterans, both men and women. The existence of this organization makes society believe that military families receive enough support, either financial or moral. Therefore, not much attention is paid to personal problems of veterans and the necessity to treat them specially. In addition, President Trump is not eager to support this community and regularly demonstrates his disrespect to American veterans and military families if they do something that he does not like (Pasley). Such an example of the American leader has already changed the attitudes of people toward veterans, which also contributed to the promotion of depressive mood.
The mental health of veterans is a critical aspect of modern health care. When veterans return from their combat missions, they have to be properly assessed for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other behavioral problems. According to Hester, about 1.5 million of 5.5 million veterans were diagnosed with mental health disorders in 2016, and this number continues growing today. Compared to ordinary citizens with no war or military experience, veterans with depression are usually at high risk of having suicidal thoughts (Hester). Several years or months before, these people had a purpose, developed their skills, took action, and achieved some results. Today, they return home, to their families, without even thinking about what they have left. With time, the feeling of losing something may be increased, and veterans start bothering that they have no interest in doing what they have to do or observing what they see around. Depression penetrates veterans’ lives slowly, but its effects are hard to ignore. At the same time, one should say that depressive disorder is not an obligatory outcome of military services, and not all veterans should obviously have it.
To provide help and support to veterans, it is necessary to identify the areas that undergo changes when this disorder is diagnosed. One of the most evident signs of depression is a regular feeling of sadness and hopelessness. Despite the existing social services, many veterans do not have health insurance plans and cannot afford mental health care (Hester). Kraus et al. underline the importance of antidepressant treatment and other pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies to strengthen the positions of veterans in society. However, my personal observations prove that some veterans do not find it necessary to ask for help and recognize their problems at the required level. There are many people who return from wars with serious physical damage. They lose hands or legs and have to receive medication support all the time. Veterans with no serious physiological losses believe that they could solve their problems on their own. They think that the requests of others have to be foreground, and the government should pay their attention to those concerns and improve the quality of life.
Without understanding how harmful and insecure such attitudes to personal health, veterans put themselves at risk of depression. Sadness becomes not the only change, and people start losing interesting in their daily activities. They do not get pleasure from what they think they like. The idea of trying something new and learning others’ experiences does not captivate. Depression overwhelms, but veterans are too proud or too persistent to understand that something is not right with their health. Along with behavioral changes, patients with depression suffer from sleeping problems and eating disorders. In one of my friends’ family, when the father returned from the Iraq War, it was a real problem to have calm nights and sleep well. During the next month, the man could not sleep in his bed and went around the house, until he reached the sofa and relaxed. The doctors did not diagnose PTSD and said that he just needed some time to get used to normal life. At the end of the month, his depression increased, and only after several tests and observation, he was diagnosed with post-war depression.
Family Support for Veterans with Depression
Taking into consideration the fact that many veterans live with their families after their military services, the analysis and improvement of support that can be offered by family members should be underlined. According to Pasley, at this moment, 16 veterans or military families have already been disparaged by Trump. If the President of the country does not want to demonstrate his respect for the achievements and sacrifices of ordinary people, it is hard to expect a better attitude from society. It is another reason why families should take care of their veterans and predict depression caused by unfair treatment and prejudices. A family member or friend plays a significant role in any veteran’s life. Being closely related, these people are usually able to notice behavioral changes and concerns first. Therefore, they need to let the veteran know that there is always someone behind to talk, listen, and support. Sometimes, a small act of kindness is what the veteran wants to get in order to avoid the development of serious illnesses or a crisis.
In the United States, veteran supportive organizations introduce a number of programs to educate families about how to behave with veterans and when to offer some help. In the majority of cases, families start searching for some public-supported programs when a mental health crisis has already occurred (Hester). Due to the inability to understand when the first depression symptoms began, they exposed themselves to similar problems, provoking depression and anxiety. Anger management, stress evaluation, and episodes’ reporting are necessary, but many families do not have enough knowledge about these practices. Family support should not include kind words or hugs only to prevent depression. This disorder requires professional assistance and examination, and it is a responsibility of a family member to do everything possible and make a veteran visit a hospital and receive professional help. Still, this help should not be imposed in order not to offend or humiliate a veteran, whose priorities and feelings could change during services.
Nowadays, it is possible to find many hints and recommendations for families to support their veterans with depression online. People might find some ideas unreliable because there are no scholarly studies and peer-reviewed evidence. However, several general thoughts and approaches never cause harm if they are reasonably applied. For example, depression symptoms do not change if they are mentioned in a peer-reviewed article or an online blog post. If a person observes mood changes, sleep disturbance, or the loss of appetite or interest in a veteran, depression has to be suspected. Doctors cannot consider these behaviors as symptoms if they do not know the ordinary lifestyle of a person. A family member is one of the best sources of the patient’s history, progress, and decline. Family support also includes assistance in everyday tasks, communication, and collaboration, during which family relationships are developed and strengthened.
My friend told a story of her family when her mother could not recognize depression in her father and thought that he had lost interest in family life. She tried to look nice, cook various dishes, and keep the house clear to demonstrate her desire to improve the situation. Instead of focusing on her husband, the woman made changes around and got exhausted. She did not know how dangerous and unpredictable veteran depression could be and addressed for professional help only when sleeping and eating problems became evident. At that time, depression provoked alcohol dependence and cardiovascular disease. The family broke up, and the child’s life was changed forever because of undertreated depression.
Conclusion
In general, the life of veterans in modern American society is characterized by a number of challenges, trials, and abruptness. Believing that the government always takes care of its people, families neglect their roles in promoting support and help, thus provoking enough grounds for depression and other behavioral changes. Personal stories and the analysis of studies show that depression gains a variety of forms, and despite their strengths, characters, and experiences, many veterans become vulnerable to this mental health disorder. Cooperation, attention, communication, and kindness are the main elements of family support that can be offered to veterans with depression.
Works Cited
- Hester, Ronald D. “Lack of Access to Mental Health Services Contributing to the High Suicide Rates Among Veterans.” International Journal of Mental Health Systems, vol. 11, 2017.
- Kraus, Christoph, et al. “Prognosis and Improved Outcomes in Major Depression: A Review.” Translational Psychiatry, 9, doi:10.1038/s41398-019-0460-3.
- Pasley, James. “Every Time Trump Has Attacked American Veterans or Military Families.” Business Insider, 2019. Web.