Table of ContentsIntroductionThose Who ServeThe ProblemVeterans Health AdministrationIntroductionAs an active duty service member, with 24 years of continuous service, topics involving veterans become very personal. I joined the Navy in August 1994, in the midst of Operation Uphold Democracy. This choice was made intentionally because of the depth to which my family has served the United States military for over 200 years. Every generation of my family has provided at least one, if not several, members to serve in the military since the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, I will probably be the last to do so because of the way this country treats its military. My family collectively made this decision because of the work it put us through. I am a combat veteran, a patriot, and a member of special operations. I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “You cannot describe the war in harsher terms than I do. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it, and those who provoked it our country deserves all the curses and curses that a people can heap. I know that I have no part in this war, and I know that I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to ensure peace. - William T. Sherman, Memoirs of General WT ShermanThose Who ServeTo understand the information in this article, you must first have some facts to base your own opinion on. According to the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), an agency of the Department of Defense, as of January 31, there were nearly 1.4 million military personnel on active duty. This means that 0.4 percent of the U.S. population is active military. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in 2014, there were 22 million veterans in the U.S. population. Adding their veteran numbers to the active personnel numbers mentioned above, 7.3% of all living Americans have served in the military at some point in their lives. Only 2 million veterans and about 200,000 current personnel are women. In total, 1.4 percent of all American women have ever served in the armed forces, compared to 13.4 percent of all American men. The U.S. Census reports that the current population of the United States is 327,079,855 million. This number of fluxgates due to birth occurs every eight seconds, one death occurs every ten seconds, and an international immigrant is recruited every twenty-nine seconds. This means that there is a net population gain every eighteen seconds. The Problem The equity gap begins with insufficient mental health care for veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffering from significant depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. One in four people experience symptoms of substance abuse disorders. PTSD, which typically begins to take effect after three to four months of returning home, is closely linked to traumatic brain injuries, another significant mental health problem among veterans. Despite this known prevalence of mental illness among veterans, half of veterans who need mental health treatment will not receive it due to numerous factors reported by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, including: Personal embarrassment regarding service-connected mental disabilities. Long wait times to receive health treatmentmental healthShame of needing mental health treatmentFear of being seen as weakStigma associated with mental health issuesLack of understanding, lack of awareness of mental health issues and treatment optionsLogistical issues, such as long distances to travel to receive this type of careConcerns About the Veteran psychological health treatment offered by Veteran's Affairs. Demographic barriers and false perceptions based on these demographics such as age or gender. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after trauma. Trauma is defined as a shocking and dangerous event seen or experienced. Experiencing trauma is not uncommon, in fact, in today's society it is widespread. Around 6 in ten men (i.e. 60%) and 5 in ten women (i.e. 50%) experience at least one trauma in their life. Women are more likely to be victims of sexual assault and child sexual abuse. Men are more likely to experience accidents, physical attacks, fights, disasters, or witness death or injury. Among veterans who use VA health care, about 23 in 100 women (or 23%) reported sexual assault while in the military. 55 out of 100 women (55%) and 38 out of 100 men (38%) experienced sexual harassment while in the military. This is only the number of incidents reported. The number of veterans suffering from PTSD varies depending on the period of service in Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF): approximately 11 to 20 veterans in 100 (or between 11 and 20%) who served in OIF or OEF suffer from PTSD in a given year. Gulf War (Desert Storm): About 12 out of 100 Gulf War veterans (or 12%) experience PTSD in a given year. Analyzing this, 11-20% of all reported veterans are diagnosed with PTSD. 0.4% who serve. This is why there is an equity deficit. This figure is so low that it is less than the number of deaths caused by heart disease in the United States each year, or 1 in 4 adults. Although both are preventable and treatable, mental illness goes unnoticed unless there is a shooting or an act of terror. Most veterans use the VA for treatment because it is relatively inexpensive, clinicians understand military jargon which makes translating the cause of the injury more natural. and because we veterans have earned the right to be cared for by the government after giving so much. However, the location of VA facilities may not be convenient for needed care. For veterans living in rural communities, accessing medical care, particularly mental health care, can be a challenge. Veterans Health AdministrationThe Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) Office of Rural Health reports some "significant barriers" that rural veterans face, including long distances to the department. Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, lack of specialty and emergency care in rural VA facilities, and shortage of health care providers. Such barriers can harm the health of rural veterans, who generally report lower health-related quality of life than veterans living in urban areas. The quality of care provided by the VA is only as good as the organization that provides it. As we have seen in the news lately, the VA has undergone massive changes in structure and policy due to the nature of care provided to.