








The Causes of Veteran Substance Abuse
Understanding the causes of veteran substance abuse is integral to effective treatment. It’s quite common for veterans to suffer from more than one cause of disorder. In that case, treatment can be more challenging.
The common causes of veterans substance abuse include the following:
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Commonly Abused Substances
Commonly abused substances by veterans can be legal (alcohol, tobacco, prescription medications) or illegal (heroin, methamphetamines, other illicit drugs). They may also fall into legal limbo (marijuana) as laws vary. However, substance abuse doesn’t discriminate between legal and illegal drugs.
The ramifications for veterans and their families can be stark. Substance abuse can impair a veteran’s ability to find and keep a job, potentially causing homelessness. It can also drastically impact mental and physical health.
Common substance abuse disorders include the following:







Barriers to Treatment for Veterans
Veterans face many roadblocks to treatment for substance abuse, such as a shortage of resources, the complexity of their disorders, and even their own unwillingness to ask for help. Common barriers to treatment include the following:
- Getting help. Veterans may be reluctant to seek treatment. This may be due to various contextual factors. Veterans often come from a military culture of strength and stoicism. Some veterans suffering from guilt or shame may not feel that they deserve treatment. They may worry about letting down their loved ones. All these issues can prevent veterans from reaching out.
- Workplace stigma. Despite legal protections and a better understanding of veterans’ PTSD and other mental health disorders, there is still a stigma against veterans in the workplace. As a result, veterans may be reluctant to seek treatment. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers information to employers that want to encourage veterans (and all their employees) to use health benefits.
- Access to treatment. Veterans suffering from several disorders require integrated treatment. This can make treatment expensive and prolonged. They may live an hour or more away from VA treatment facilities, even if a non-VA site is closer.
- Denied claims. The VA hasn’t always handled soldiers’ PTSD claims correctly, denying many claims that should’ve been approved. However, the VA and the U.S. Department of Defense have initiated many programs to treat soldiers and veterans for PTSD, TBI, and other mental illnesses.
Counseling Veterans With Substance Abuse Issues
The VA provides guidance for counselors on treatment techniques for veteran substance abuse disorders and PTSD. Since veterans are often diagnosed with various related disorders (for example, PTSD and alcohol abuse), these techniques can help veterans with many symptoms.
The first step to treating veterans is screening. The VA has numerous screening tools, or questionnaires, that it uses to identify patients with PTSD. Counselors use this initial screening to further investigate a veteran’s symptoms. Counselors may confirm PTSD or a combination of disorders.
Treatments for veterans follow evidence-based care principles. These principles have proven effective in helping veterans overcome substance abuse and PTSD. The most common include the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT helps veterans reframe behaviors surrounding their substance abuse. It helps them identify triggers and look for other ways to prevent use.
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. EMDR helps patients process trauma while moving their eyes to follow light or sound. This engages both parts of the brain and helps the patient stop focusing on the pain.
- Prolonged exposure. PE, also known as exposure therapy, helps patients face their fears or trauma, and gradually get used to the pain and fear. In time, the negative feelings lessen.
Resources for Counselors
The following resources are aimed at counselors treating veterans with substance abuse disorders:
- Collaborative Care in Mental Health Reduces Hospital Admissions. Providing collaborative care, which involves coordination of care by interdisciplinary health care teams, has proven effective in treating VA patients with multiple mental health conditions.
- Guilt, Shame, and Forgiveness. Veterans may be burdened with feelings of guilt and shame stemming from their time in service. Understanding these emotions is necessary to help veterans process, accept, and forgive.
- Treatment Essentials. The VA’s National Center for PTSD provides guidelines for understanding and treating PTSD.
- From Combat to Counseling: Veterans and the Criminal Justice System. Veteran treatment courts help provide compassionate justice for veterans who suffer from substance abuse and PTSD.
- Social and Psychological Risk and Protective Factors for Veteran Well-Being. Veterans who identify strongly with their military experience may be less susceptible to suicidal thoughts, but more prone to alcohol abuse.
Resources for Veterans
Veteran substance abuse is a complex problem that has no easy answers. Veterans may suffer from several disorders, requiring integrated treatment. Long wait times for a VA facility or the lack of financial resources can create barriers to care. Additionally, counseling can be expensive and lengthy, because substance abuse disorders are difficult to treat and require inpatient or outpatient care.
As a result, help for substance abuse can feel like a daunting task for veterans. However, resources are out there. They range from the VA and other government agencies as well as counseling centers that specialize in the particular needs of veterans.
The following resources may help veterans and their families identify the care they need:
- Help for Service Members and Their Families. Current and former members of the military can find various mental health resources from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- About Us. The goal of Justice For Vets is to reform how the justice system treats veterans who’ve committed crimes. The organization has formed veteran treatment courts to help veterans get the treatment they need and keep veterans out of jail or prison.
- Military and Veterans Issues. GoodTherapy provides an overview of the emotional and mental health issues that soldiers and veterans face.
- PTSD Treatment Works. The National Center for PTSD provides information on treatment, providers, and other resources for veterans and active members of the military.
- Substance Use Disorder Program. The VA offers a guide to its facilities in all states and territories. The VA also has outpatient mental health clinics to help veterans with substance use disorders.
- Substance Use. The VA provides a guide to help active members of the military and veterans identify behaviors that indicate a substance use disorder.