{"id":29906,"date":"2025-06-18T16:15:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T16:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/?p=29906"},"modified":"2025-06-18T16:15:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T16:15:02","slug":"after-service-health-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/18\/after-service-health-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"After Service: Health Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Many people have a family member, relative, or friend who is a veteran.<\/p>\n

Some people don\u2019t know a veteran at all. Regardless of whether you know one or not, have you ever stopped to consider how crucial it is to support the health of those who have fought for our country?<\/p>\n

The impact military service has on mental and physical health is significant. The unique risks, stressors, and environments veterans experience while on duty put them at a higher risk of suffering from physical and mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain, and substance abuse.<\/p>\n

Physical Health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chronic pain \u2014 a common health issue experienced by veterans \u2014 is pain that lasts longer than 3 months and is usually due to an injury, disease, or infection but sometimes has no known cause. A 2018 report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 50 million<\/a> U.S. adults suffer from chronic pain.<\/p>\n

More commonly found in veterans than in the general population, chronic pain causes decreased work productivity, disability, and higher healthcare costs. Chronic pain can contribute to mental health struggles like depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder, among others. According to the National Library of Medicine, an estimated 50%<\/a> of U.S. veterans experience chronic pain, making it one of the most common health complaints among this population.<\/p>\n

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a treatment called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP) to help veterans with chronic pain. The National Library of Medicine explains that CBT-CP<\/a> is about changing one\u2019s response to and relationship with pain so it has a less harmful impact on functioning and quality of life. Click here<\/a> to learn more about CBT-CP and to hear from a veteran who used CBT-CP to combat chronic pain.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”29945″ img_size=”Full” css=”.vc_custom_1750255802001{margin-top: 40px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=””]Mental Health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Experiencing stress after a traumatic event is human nature, but PTSD is much more severe than stress. People who suffer from PTSD relive traumatic events in their minds in the form of flashbacks and nightmares. PTSD also brings along relationship issues, emotional numbness, sleep problems, anger, substance abuse, and reckless behavior.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), about 8 of every 100 women<\/a> and 4 of every 100 men will have PTSD at some point in their life. Women have a higher chance of developing PTSD because they are more likely to experience traumatic events \u2014 like sexual assault \u2014 than men.<\/p>\n

VA offers three forms<\/a> of trauma-based therapy that are used to treat PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). According to the National Center for PTSD, 53 of 100<\/a> patients who receive one of these treatments will no longer have PTSD.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”” css=””]According to Mission Roll Call, only 45%<\/a> of the 18 million veterans in the country use the VA.[\/vc_cta][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Healthcare for Our Heroes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veterans in the United States have access to healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The VHA is one of the United States\u2019 largest integrated healthcare systems \u2014\u00a0consisting of 172 medical centers and 1,138 sites of care \u2014 and provides help to more than 8.3<\/a> million veterans each year. These medical centers offer services you would see in a traditional hospital, like surgery, mental health care, pharmacy services, and physical therapy, among others.<\/p>\n

Veterans can also apply for a healthcare plan through the VA, which covers healthcare needs from checkups with a primary care provider to appointments with specialists like mental health providers and cardiologists. Like a traditional benefits plan provided by an employer, VA healthcare offers coverage for a wide variety of services like vision, dental, long-term care, and more. For more information on eligibility and benefits, visit the VA website at va.gov\/health-care\/.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_single_image image=”30080″ img_size=”large” css=”.vc_custom_1750262109239{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 and Press 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Available 24\/7, 365, the Veterans Crisis Line assists veterans in crisis \u2014 feeling hopeless, suffering from anxiety, depression, participating in risky behavior, etc. \u2014 and helps connect them to medical services or other resources they need.<\/p>\n

According to VA News, as of July 2024, more than 8 million calls<\/a>, 975,000 chats, and 399,000 texts have been received through the Veterans Crisis line since its launch in 2007. Simply dial 988 and press 1 to be connected to a trained responder during a crisis. Call the number, save a life. Learn more about the Veterans Crisis Line at veteranscrisisline.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Protecting Those Who Protected Us<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serving in the military is a selfless, heroic, and brave act, but when soldiers return from service, many suffer from some intense mental and physical conditions. According to the National Library of Medicine, a survey conducted in 2016 on 9,000 newly separated veterans found that 53%<\/a> reported chronic physical conditions and 33% reported chronic mental health conditions.<\/p>\n

It is important to be educated on what veterans experience after service to be able to help them the best we can. Informing others about common conditions and spreading the word about useful resources can better a veteran\u2019s quality of life.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”” css=””]According to 2021 VA data, there were about 17<\/a> veteran suicides per day, or\u00a06,392 a year;\u00a0 veterans commit suicide at a 57% higher rate than non-veteran adults.[\/vc_cta][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] Many people have a family member, relative, or friend who is a veteran. Some people don\u2019t know a veteran at all. Regardless of whether you know one or not, have you ever stopped to consider how crucial it is to support the health of those who have fought for our country? The impact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":29843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[497,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-july","category-lifestyle-and-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29906"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30081,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29906\/revisions\/30081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldblifestylebenefits.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}