This facility and its employees as a whole, are very friendly, helpful, and care about veterans. Im not sure if every doctor or those in charge care though. After multiple visits evaluting the mental health section, I noticed many things. There are not enough mental health "specialist" to meet the demand of patients at times. Some mental health specialist seem to rush due to the amount of people in the waiting room. There is also a great need for trust building because no vetetan wants to talk to doctors they cant trust. Inconsistencies between specialist, led me to distrust the service and judgement of a few.
As a Marine, we understand how important it is to maintain trust, since it is a very hard thing to rebuild. I noticed some specialist dont exactly comprehend the "transition phase" of leaving the military, combined with low income, a family, life, unsatifying job after job, not exactly fitting in with the world after 8 yrs around Marines, war, and a structured lifestyle. I think Im at my 13th or 14th place of employment/ school/ training since 2014 and it doesnt seem normal to me at this point. I left most jobs within 2-3 weeks to a year, mostly because they all seem to bring on a slight "depression" after some time or this "moral disatisfaction". I thought maybe it was just the low-pay of jobs with no degree or exact skills, but I think theres more to it. No matter what it is, the lack of empathy is unacceptable if the veteran suicide stats are true. The "22" a day service members or vets that take their own lives.
No specialist asked me about the work force and transition. While most sit in cosy jobs that are set in-line with their lives, "they've found their place", while many of us have restarted our lives multiple times, simply trying to find a career that pays the bills. I noticed some mental health specialist have no understanding of cultural adversity, ACEs "Adverse Childhood Experiences", and there is a great lack of care for our minds that were somewhat "transformed" by training, war, and a brotherhood/ bond that isn't often found in the civilian world. We often bounce from job to job trying to find a place in this civilian workforce, that doesn't exactly match with us or our military training. This workforce doesnt always meet our mental or moral needs but they look at you as if youre just complaining when youre actually trying to figure out what brings you down. A few doctors seem to think you just get out the military and its smooth sailing. Specialist didnt seem to comprehend, trying to figure out your own mind is challenging, but Ive figured out many things after I decided to study and figure out my mind for myself.
For almost 2 years now, Ive explored the depths of my own mind, after feeling ignored and pushed to the side by the agency that was suppose to give me some answers. I studied many veterans and their disorders, psychology, I looked back to my Marines that came back from war with serious debilitating issues, "some on medication" with multiple disorders. I thought back to their behavior and what they were going through, how they distanced themselves from everyone but myself at times. It helped me see how PTSD is often misunderstood by civilian doctors. It helped me see many flawed VA practices. It isn't wise that civilians who don't truly understand veterans, are the ones in charge of the VA. I believe this alone is the greatest reason 22 veterans a day commit suicide.
This ficility broke my trust again when one doctor told me there is a link between veterans/PTSD and memory loss, while the other said there is no link at all. So either one mental health specialist was lying, didnt care to look into it for a patient, or someone was wrong. At this point I dont trust the facility and I now know they are neglecting many veterans or possibly just the cultured, low-income, and/or impoverished. This is a trend of America, political leaders, doctors, and many US systems, so it makes sense that the VA establishment would ignore the same classes/cultures as its leaders.
