Homeless Veterans and PTSD

Written by Dylan Julia Cooper

Homeless Veterans with PTSD By Dylan Julia Cooper An explosion that feels like an earthquake. The haunting image of comrades’ bodies torn apart. Sinking under waves of fear, anxiety, and nausea. These are not unusual for someone suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is classified as a psychiatric disorder stemming from a person experiencing a traumatic event, most commonly events like rape/sexual assault, war, serious accidents, and natural disasters. During World War I, doctors referred to this affliction as shell shock and during World War II, it was known as combat fatigue. Whatever society calls this, the ravaging effects on soldiers speficially are largely the same. Symptoms of PTSD include, but are not limited to: intrusive recollections, flashbacks, nightmares, emotional despondency, avoidance of triggers/reminders of the trauma, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, jumpiness, irritation, and violent outbursts.

Homelessness affects not just those that live without a roof over their heads, but all members of society. To be homeless means to be a person without a place to live or housing of any kind. As of 2020, over 500,000 people experience homelessness in the United States alone. Almost forty thousand (7%) of those individuals can be identified as veterans, and the problem only grows every year. Research shows homeless Afghanistan and Iraq vets have a higher risk of suffering from PTSD than veterans of previous wars. Overall, there are less homeless veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan than their counterparts, but unfortunately, PTSD affects two thirds of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans due to the effects of experiencing the high intensity trauma of warfare overseas.

There is direct correlation between veterans suffering from PTSD and homelessness. PTSD affects a person’s mental health, being a mental disorder, and this causes issues with readjustment to civilian life after returning home from overseas warfare. A single tour in Afghanistan or Iraq can expose a soldier to unimaginable horrors and unforgettable waking nightmares. To survive, they must constantly remain alert, always checking over both shoulders. A mistake can cost human lives. Therefore, when a soldier finishes serving, their homecoming may not be the celebration many Americans assume it to be. All the instincts that keep soldiers alive in wartime do not shut off in peacetime. The effects of the trauma from war stick with them, creating a difficult time assimilating back into society. Suffering from symptoms of PTSD causes veterans to struggle in holding down jobs and refiguring out how to live within a family dynamic. In some cases, PTSD makes these people, who learned to fight and serve their country, dangerous to those around them due to the violent nature of their duty coupled with PTSD.

Ignoring groups of people considered by society to be “problems” is far from a solution to a wider issue of ignorance. Veterans deserve more than a “thank you for your service”; they need real systems of support to fall back on. Some ways to help homeless veterans: support emergency shelters, volunteer as mentors/counselors/legal aides, raise funds for programs, volunteer at Stand Down programs, and develop homeless veteran burial programs. Disabled American Veterans, IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America), National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, U.S. Vets, and Volunteers of American are just a few of the nonprofits taking donations to help soldiers returning home. Because PTSD is the one battle U.S. soldiers are not trained to fight.