Mental Health News
Mental Health Resources
Check out the Veterans' Post-Deployment Resiliency Training available online: http://www.vetsprevail.com/. They also have a twitter account to share their updates and comments @VetsPrevail, http://twitter.com/VetsPrevail. Their biography on twitter states, "Providing online mental health care for troops returning from deployment." They are a confidential training tool developed by veterans for other veterans. They also can be found on YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has a resource page for veterans and active duty military members and their families and friends. "Recent studies tell us that nearly a third of veterans who seek care through Veterans Administration (VA) health centers receive mental health diagnoses. With more and more soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health concerns, NAMI recognizes the need for increased services for veterans and their families. With our Veterans Resources Center, we have attempted to consolidate the most useful online resources. Whether you are looking for information on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, mental illness, or how to obtain Veterans Administration benefits, we have tried to provide an extensive list of sites online where you can find that information." They also serve non-veterans, as well. (Source: www.nami.org)
PBS has a TV series, "This Emotional Life," with interviews, myth vs. fact lists, blogs, and a resource locator on its website: http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/resource-finder. You or your loved ones can interact with bloggers in the specific areas of mental illness. In addition, for general issues, you can interact to simply build your resilience. They define topics, like resilience, and provide research-based findings and steps to help you deal with life. They also have a 24-hour hotline for those in emotional distress. Furthermore, they're building a national database of support organizations and are soliciting your input on outstanding organizations in your area. They list NAMI as a useful resources, as well as other organizations.
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) provides a database for community-based organizations to help homeless veterans: http://www.nchv.org/network.cfm. It's important to understand what type of veteran became homeless. According to the NCHV, "The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the nation's homeless veterans are mostly males (four percent are females). The vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45 percent suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. 47 percent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era. More than 67 percent served our country for at least three years and 33 percent were stationed in a war zone."