A Student Veteran Center - Free Essay Example

Abstract This paper explores ten published peer-reviewed articles, that examines stigmas associated with student veterans diagnosed with a mental health disorder. The research was conducted online through Texas Christian University (TCU) Library. The articles all varied in the research methods by: age, location, sample size, hypothesis, as well as the results. Some articles discussed the importance of student veterans receiving treatment after discharging from active duty and others focused on how the personal stigmas effects the student veterans daily life. This paper examines research conducted by numerous authors in relations to how to properly treat and support veterans with mental diagnosis on college campuses. Keywords: success rate of student veterans, student veterans with mental diagnoses, and challenges of student veterans. Practice Area There is an increase in the number of veterans returning from combat zones each year without receiving the proper treatment. Eventually, this creates more situations that can be critical to their untreated illness (Bull, Thandi, Chesnokov, 2015). The purpose of this research is to address the need for better services on college campuses, by giving them the appropriate resources to reduce the stigma associated with combat veterans receiving treatment. Over the past few years, there has been lack of adequate research studies to examine student veterans success rate. Due to the introduction of the Post 9-11 GI Education Bill, the number of student veterans who attend college has increased. It has given guaranteed financial security to student veterans, once they have separated from active duty (Eisenberg, Downs, Golberstein, 2009). With the Post 9-11 GI Education Bill covering college tuition and paying monthly housing allowance, more student veterans have chosen to pursue some form of college education to receive financial benefits. However, the problem at hand is that most student veterans have been diagnosed with a mental disorder and have not received treatment. Therefore this indicates that not enough resources is being implemented within the student veteran community, to ensure the most effective treatment. Student veterans that choose to seek treatment, will have a higher success rate in college and civilian life, than those who choose not to seek treatment. Also, recent studies revealed that two out of five student veterans experience substance abuse due to an untreated illness or disorder (Bennet Niv, 2017). Therefore, lacking the proper treatment can lead to other health complications or suicide (Vogt, 2011). Research Question What researches have been implemented to improve the availability of student veterans resource center on a college campus, for veterans with mental health disorders? Search Methods Majority of the literature for this research came from Texas Christian University (TCU) library database and EBSCO. The key phrases used to assist with finding articles and information on the stigmas of student veterans with mental health disorders was: success rate of student veterans, student veterans with mental diagnoses, and challenges of student veterans. The required factors for literature to be included in this research had to be peer-review articles, within 10 years of publication, and have research methods that described the effects of a student veteran not receiving treatment for a mental health disorder after separating from active duty service. Description of Articles Similarities All ten articles shared some similarities and was conducted by using exploratory research design. The post positivism paradigm was used, due to the researchers recognizing the possible impact of researcher bias in forming the questions in hopes to eliminate the bias (Maschi and Youdin, 2012). They all contained information of some of the most common student veteran disorders, which gave insight of how big of an issue this is nation wide. The articles also shared the comparison of the effects of not having a veterans resource center on both a university campus and community college, which allowed the researcher to recognize the importance of having a veterans resources center. Differences With the articles having an abundance of similarities, there was also some differences that clarified how this could affect the student veteran. One of the articles described, how many student veterans prefer to attend a community college because of the smaller campus and class size (Britt and Wright, 2012). However, the issue at hand with the community college is lack of resources for student veterans with mental health diagnoses. There was also a one article that discussed how most student veterans that attends a university is not considered a traditional college student and the challenges of adjusting to civilian life (Rusch and Thornicroft, 2014). Another major difference was the sample size and the demographics, in seven out ten articles. Most articles only selected college students with specific diagnosis, at community colleges only, and different locations which affected the research results. Review of Results The conducted research has implied that there is a higher number of student veterans, than traditional college students not receiving the appropriate treatments for mental health disorders.. The peer-reviewed articles indicated that themes impacting the student veterans well-being is averaged nationwide. Some of those themes includes: positive effects of seeking treatment, mental health affects on family members, and long term impact of having a mental health disorder. Positive Impacts of Seeking Treatment The positive impact of seeking treatment is the guarantee to receive treatment as a veteran. Studies has shown that out of 711, 986 veterans treated at a VA hospital, 367,749 are diagnosed with a mental health disorder (Bennet and Niv, 2017). The study also reports that out of that 367,749 diagnosed, only an estimate of 200,000 receives the proper treatment (Bennet and Niv, 2017). Out of of that 200,000, the success rate to receive the needed treatment is higher, especially with student veterans. Those that has received help decided be a statistic, but a success story (Eisenberg, Downs, Golberstein, and Zivin, 2009). Also, student veterans with a veteran resource center on campus had an even higher rate of success due to overcoming the stigma of not being a hero but someone who wants to live a healthy and happy civilian life (Caughill and Dunford, 2015). Mental Health Affects on Family Members The effects of mental health on the family is a difficult challenge for the student veteran also. Some systems put into place has not allowed the family member to receive proper support and the family members feel as if they do not belong in the recovery process (Albright and Pelts, 2015). Some family members also shows signs of guilt and feel like they are the ones to blame for mental disorder. Some articles have shown that theres confusion amongst the family member about the changed behavior, embarrassment, fear, and even in some cases resentment ( Rusch and Thornicroft, 2014). All families agreed that communication is the key to supporting each other during recovery but also protest how difficult it can be due to not understanding the severity (Vogt, 2011). Long Term Impact of Having a Mental Illness For student veterans that refuse to seek help, the mental illness will impact their life long term. Student veterans has to want the will to receive help and if those diagnosis goes untreated, then it will affect their social, physical, and mental well being even more. An untreated illness can cause stress, depression, anxiety, and chemical changes in hormones, just to name a few (Vogt, 2011). One study described how 1 in 4 student veterans cope with their disorders with substance abuse and even suicide (Albright and Pelts, 2015). However, for those student veterans that chose to seek treatment, has a higher rate of becoming more successful and in some cases, have become non-dependent on prescription drugs to cope with daily life (Caughill and Dunford, 2015). They have adjusted to civilian life and have allowed themselves to overcome being just another statistic. Discussion Practice Implications After exploring the research on the stigma of student veterans with mental health disorders, there is many resources and practices that college campuses can implement to increase the student veterans success rate. First, because adjusting to a new environment is always difficult, provide the student veteran with all campus resources as well as non-campus resources to feel supported. Second, because one in six student veterans have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder (Britt, Moore and wright, 2012), provide a center that is designated for that population, their families, and students that may have similar interest to want to learn about that population and how to better improve it for future student veterans. Finally, provide mandatory counseling throughout the semester to document each student veterans progress and continue improving the system for that population. However, there are some specialities that each veteran student resource center should include. First, have co unselors and therapists that have been in the military to provide the student veteran with services. This will allow the student veteran to feel comfortable and supported. Then, make sure each counselor has a file of the student to understand their background and trauma, which if goes untreated can cause the student veterans probable success rate to decline. As of now, there is not much current research on studies to prove if any of these implications have been conducted or effective. Future Directions Currently there is not much research pertaining to the effectiveness of having a student veteran center on a college campus (Bennett and Niv, 2017) and if it has military affiliated personnel as counselors. It would also be beneficial for all parties involved to conduct their own campus study on the effectiveness of a student veteran center and possibly go from there. Since, majority of the most up-to-date research has focused on veterans with combat related mental disorders, maybe implement an idea that would also be supportive of veterans without combat related illnesses. This will allow more participants to be involved in the process for future studies. Finally, researches should analyze how a student veteran center have affected not just the veterans but their entire support system. This will allow researchers the appropriate approach to improving the overall recovery process. References Britt, T. W., Wright K. M., Moore, D. (2012). Leaderships predictor of stigma and practical barriers toward receiving mental health treatment: A multilevel approach. Psychological Services, 9, 26-37. doi:10.1037/a0026412 Bull, S., Thandi G., Keeling, M., Chesnokov, M. (2015). Medical and Welfare Officers beliefs about post-deployment screening for mental health disorders in the armed forces: A qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 15, 338. doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1695-4 Caughill, A., Dunford, D. (2015). A psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program: Meeting the needs of the community and veterans as students as well as care recipients. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 36( 10), 836-839. doi:10.3109/01612840.2015.1057784 Coleman, S. J., Stevenlink, S.A., Hatch, S. L., Denny, J. A. (2017). Stigma-related barriers and facilitators to help seeking for mental health issues in the armed forces: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative literature, Psychological Medicine: Cambridge 47(11), 1880-1892. doi:10.1017/s0033291717000356 Eisenberg, D., Downs, M. F., Golberstein, E., Zivin, K. (2009). Stigma and help seeking for Mental health among college students. Medical Care Research and Review, 66(5), 522-541. doi:10.1177/1077558709335173 Niv, N., Bennett, L. (2017). Veterans mental health in higher education settings: Services and clinician education needs. Psychiatric Services, 68(6), 636-639. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201600065 Pelts, M. D., Albright, D. L. (2015). An Exploratory Study of Student Service Members/Veterans Mental Health Characteristics by Sexual Orientation. Journal of American College Health, 63(7), 508â€Å"512. https://doi-org.ezproxy.tcu.edu/10.1080/07448481.2014.947992 Rusch, N., Thornicroft G. (2014). Does stigma impair prevention of mental disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 204, 249-251. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.113.131961 Seidman, A., Wade, N., Lannin, D., Heath, P., Brenner, R., Vogel, D. (2018). Self-affirming values to increase student veterans intentions to seek counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(5), 653-660. doi:10.1037/cou0000289 Vogt D. (2011). Mental- health related beliefs as a barrier to service use for military personnel and veterans: A review. Psychiatric Services, 62, 135-142. doi:10.1176/ps.62.2.pss6202_0135