Nov 16, 2024 3 min read

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has likely been around as long as men – and it has almost exclusively been men – have risked their lives in combat.

It was not officially recognized as a mental health condition until 1980, but there are stories going back to the Civil War of veterans dying by suicide and suffering from heart palpitations that became known as “soldier’s heart.” The carnage of World War I brought the term “shell shock” into everyday discourse, and it’s believed that a significant slice of World War II veterans suffered a variety of afflictions that fell under the PTSD umbrella.

Although the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and the long American engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, did not generate the enormous number of casualties of previous American wars, they still have left many service personnel struggling to get their footing now that they have returned to civilian life. A story in this past Monday’s edition by staff writer Zach Petroff illustrated some of the challenges today’s younger veterans face. They include feelings of isolation and problems with substance abuse, anxiety and depression.

Patrina Supler, an Army combat veteran who hails from Waynesburg, explained it this way: “As a veteran (when you get out of the service) you lose some of your outlets to take care of yourself. So when I came back from Iraq in 2004, I had severe PTSD. It was really, really bad, and I was drunk a lot. It was just so difficult to make the adjustment for coming home from a war zone.”

Resources are available for veterans who need them. The Veterans Crisis Line offers support confidentially by text, phone or online; Military One Source has counseling and coaching; and Hire Heroes USA is a nonprofit group that connects service members coming back into civilian life with job opportunities. All told, the National Veterans Foundation has a list of over 50 resources for veterans at its website, nvf.org.

The problem, though, is that many veterans do not access resources that are available to them. A 2019 study by researchers at Penn State University found that 89% of veterans had not made use of programs that can assist with functioning in civilian life or making social connections. In addition, 40% had not taken advantage of vocational programs and 37% had not used a service or program geared to health care.

The primary reason they had not been used? Veterans either didn’t think they were eligible or that they needed help. The study found, however, that it’s often veterans who don’t use any support services who are at the highest risk.

“Veterans need clear information about available programs, eligibility requirements, where to locate them and how to identify which programs will benefit them,” according to Keith Aronson, one of the Penn State researchers.

During the height of the Iraq war, it was a common refrain that we needed to support the troops, even if the policies that led to the war were controversial. What Petroff’s story makes clear is that support needs to continue for these troops now that they are home.