The problem of people without a permanent place of residence is quite widespread in the United States, and unfortunately, this issue concerns all segments of the population. Homeless people in America are represented by people of a wide variety of typologies and characteristics, from the orphaned youth to the elderly, from single people to entire families. This reportage will touch upon the problem of the low-income social group of homeless veterans. It is the duty of American society to provide this social type with the necessary support and recovery program to integrate them into society or at least improve their quality of life.
War veterans and in particular those people who were thrown by chance at the border of society after the war need to prepare a full-fledged support program for a number of reasons. Veterans, as people who have an experience that is definitely traumatic from a psychological point of view, are psychologically vulnerable persons with a fragile or already disturbed psyche. Not surprisingly, a significant percentage of recovering soldiers returning from hostilities is experiencing severe negative psychological disorders such as PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Gabrielian et al., 2018). Recovery after a shock suffered in a war can take many years, given the fact that the psyche of a subject may never fully recover.
However, the psychological problems experienced by veterans as a whole social group are incomparable with the deprivations and personality disorders that a veteran who finds himself on the street can experience. Statistically speaking, almost every American veteran without a permanent home has at least one psychological disorder (Ding et al., 2018). It should be emphasized, however, that these disorders were not acquired as a result of their loss of home. On the contrary, these disorders were diagnosed before, therefore they were the direct reason why these people lost or deliberately left their places of residence.
At the same time, in the biographies of homeless veterans in America and any homeless Americans in general, there are cases of prior loss of residence due to brain trauma, which caused a psychological disorder.
Veterans generally appear to be an extremely anxious and fearsome social group due to traumatic experiences and subsequent rejection by the system. Judging by psychological surveys, this socially vulnerable group appears to be much more pessimistic in their worldviews than, for example, homeless youth from Ohio (Rew et al., 2018). Teenagers from Ohio, despite social hardship, dream of future comfort and self-realization, perceive their identity as alive and mobile, capable of improving and changing. Veterans, however, are completely devoid of such optimism, which is an unconditional psychological problem in itself.
The perception of war veterans, already largely shaped by military actions, can only continue to distort towards schizophrenia and insanity if the veteran leads a one-sided monologue with oneself. A typical veteran in the U.S. and in the Ohio State in particular appears to be much more of a loner in comparison to other homeless populations. It can be assumed that this is largely due to the concept of heroism acquired in the war and exerting constant psychological pressure.
The most dangerous thing for a homeless veteran is the prolonged continuation of the illusion of being at war, the illusion of survival. Surveys of Ohio veterans show that many of them perceive their daily reality as fulfilling some important mission (Weber et al., 2018). This is a psychological projection that allows them to transform their perception of reality in such a way as to be able to tolerate it and not fall into melancholy or suicidal depression. It should be noted that it was in Ohio that a theoretical model was developed for interviewing homeless suicidal veterans, which further emphasizes the urgency of addressing this problem in the state (Bogner et al., 2020).
Based on all of the above, the problem of homeless war veterans is not only widespread but also extremely worrisome. Directly in Ohio, the problem of homeless veterans may be related to the fact that at least one-fifth of veterans have to overpay for their housing, which gives the problem a financial prospect (Housing Assistance Council, 2019). However, referring to other studies, it turns out that the financial issue here is not as important as racial and traumatic.
The vast majority of homeless veterans are African Americans who have had negative experiences with the services of the law (Brenner et al., 2017). The physical and mental trauma inflicted on these people could depersonalize them to such an extent that they left the house. In connection with this, it is also necessary to combat police violence and arbitrariness in the name of preventing such situations.
The primary solution to this problem is the creation of a cultural and social institution with such a level of tolerance and acceptance that veterans are not afraid or embarrassed to receive support (Gabrielian et al., 2018). It is important in the development and implementation of such programs to take into account the psychological changes that a potential participant in this program has undergone, to reach out to them.
Therefore, the government should develop the programs of social monitoring and psychological surveys, so necessary for understanding the mentality of these people. A veteran who agrees to receive support requires not only psychological therapy, but also a full-fledged rehabilitation course (Sutter, 2021). This includes detoxification of the body, fixation and therapy of various diseases after a full medical examination and preventive treatment for addictions to alcohol or other substances acquired during life on the street.
To further emphasize the danger of a problem that is widespread throughout the country, information should be added about the high risk of suicide among veterans who find themselves on the street. Trauma acquired in the course of military service develops over the years into a whole chain of schizophrenic and paranoid mental tendencies. Due to this, a person who has lost all the conditions for an adequate existence loses his basic psychological moral attitudes and becomes dangerous not only for himself but also for others.
In this regard, the development of a comprehensive and constantly supported system is required that would allow the return of veterans to society, or at least provide them with regular support. This system of integration into societies must be consistent and proportional to those events that have harmed the psyche and well-being of the veteran.
The final important program for helping veterans is spiritual support by nurses in hospitals and care-centers. It is imagined that in the event of a spiritual crisis and loss of moral and psychological values, such a practice would not be superfluous. It seems necessary to extend it to all veteran support centers in the state as much as possible. Probably, the complex application and integration of the above state volunteer and scientific initiatives could offer the basis for helping homeless veterans to further merge them with society.
References
Bogner, J., Corrigan, J., Yi, H., Singichetti, B., Manchester, K., Huang, L., and Yang, J. (2020). Lifetime history of traumatic brain injury and behavioral health problems in a population-based sample. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 35(1), 43-50. Web.
Brenner, L. A., Hesteller, T., Barnes, S., Stearns-Yoder, K. A., Soberay, K., and Forster, J. (2017). Traumatic brain injury, psychiatric diagnoses, and suicide risk among veterans seeking services related to homelessness. Brain Injury, 31(13-14), 1731-1735.
Ding, K., Slate, M. & Yang, J. (2018). History of co-occurring disorders and current mental health status among homeless veterans. BMC Public Health, 18, 751. Web.
Gabrielian, S., Gores, A. M., Gelberg, L., and Tsai, J. (2018). Mental illness and substance use disorders among homeless veterans. In J. Tsai (ed.), Homelessness Among U.S. Veterans: Critical Perspectives, (pp. 35-58). Oxford University Press.
Rew, L., Slesnick, N. Johnson, K., Aguilar, R., and Cengiz, A. (2019). Positive attributes and life satisfaction in homeless youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 1-8.
Supporting veterans in Ohio. (2019). Housing Assistance Council. Web.
Sutter J. P. (2021). Frontline work taking care of homeless veterans. In E.C. Ritchie, M. D. Llorente. (eds.), Clinical Management of the Homeless Patient. Springer, Cham. Web.
Weber, J., Lee, R. C., Martsolf, D. (2018). Pursuing the mission: How homeless veterans manage chronic disease. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 5. Web.