IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI)– With Veterans Day approaching, the southeast Idaho community takes time to honor the men and women who have served our country. However, with such honorable service also comes significant challenges.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, post-traumatic stress disorder is more common among veterans than civilians. About 7% of veterans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. The condition is also more prevalent among female veterans than their male counterparts.
Local News 8 spoke with Teriann Ness, a certified complex trauma clinician and licensed social worker, about common mental health challenges seen among veterans, particularly Post Traumatic Stress.
“There are a lot of different things that our military do experience that makes it really tough. Also, there’s a lot of stuff that they can’t talk about because it’s classified. or there’s things that they’re learning that we don’t even have a clue about. and then there’s just tough stuff that happens and that can cause both memories, coming back, tough things that they have seen or experienced themselves. Plus just that physical sensation inside of anxiety,” Ness said.
Most trauma that veterans experience stem from different places.
“The memories of what they’ve experienced when they’ve been deployed or even here in our homeland, the different things that they do for our military, the things that they learn, being able to have those thoughts come back and the pictures, the image of what they’ve experienced also affects them internally, where heart starts to race and the breathing changes and get anxious or or traumatic experiences, just their body doesn’t feel comfortable anymore,” Ness said.
Addiction is another obstacle that veterans face in the civilian world is addiction, which is tied to Post Traumatic Stress.
“…addiction comes in when people are trying to find a balance, trying to find that calmness inside. So by using something helps to bring themselves back to a sense of balance so they can keep on doing what they’re doing just to make it through the day or the week or anniversaries too,” Ness said.
If you are a veteran who needs help, contact the East Idaho Veterans Center. For more information, click HERE. Or for veterans in crisis, dial 988 and press 1.
