The commercial website for NFA Behavioral Health has good information about PTSD and substance abuse among veterans. Check it out. Here are the opening paragraphs:
Serving in the military naturally puts you at a higher risk of injury and death. It also puts you at a higher risk for developing a substance use disorder. Even if you were never sent to war, you may have experienced military sexual trauma, difficulty in adjusting to civilian life, or a mental health condition that resulted from the stress of serving. A serious injury during training or a sexual assault can cause trauma and PTSD. It’s not just combat that can cause these mental health issues, although combat certainly can cause them as well.
Veterans Who Have a Substance Use Disorder Usually Also Have PTSD
More than 20% of veterans who have PTSD also have a substance use disorder. PTSD may come before the substance use disorder, or the SUD may have been there first. Both conditions make the other more likely to occur, and they influence each other. People who have PTSD are three times more likely to suffer from substance abuse, and experiencing trauma is a risk factor for substance use disorder.
According to administrative data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, 41.4% of veterans who served in the Vietnam War or later conflicts were diagnosed with both a substance use disorder and PTSD.
Compared to the general population, veterans are at a higher risk of developing PTSD and a substance use disorder. The severity of combat is also linked to the severity of PTSD symptoms that a veteran experiences. Military service members become more likely to develop PTSD as the intensity of combat increases. All of the above reasons make it crucial for those who are serving in the military or retiring from the military to see a therapist. Even if you feel fine now, you want to make sure you fully process the traumas you endured and emotionally heal from them. Has a lot of time passed since you served in the military? You can still benefit from seeking treatment for your PTSD symptoms or substance use. It’s never too late to improve your quality of life and get relief from mental health struggles.
Combat isn’t the only type of traumatic experience that can cause PTSD. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse can also be causes. Some veterans were sexually harassed, assaulted, or abused while serving in the military. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, approximately 20% of female veterans who seek treatment at a VA facility have been diagnosed with military sexual trauma. Men who have experienced sexual trauma are also encouraged to receive treatment. Although it’s not as prevalent among men, 1 in 100 male veterans in the VA system have military sexual trauma.
