{"id":8260,"date":"2024-05-07T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260"},"modified":"2024-05-07T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T14:30:00","slug":"veterans-share-how-mental-health-care-improved-their-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260","title":{"rendered":"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

How would you finish the sentence: \u201cToday, I am \u2026\u201d? Would you say you\u2019re hopeful, motivated, anxious, lonely, indifferent or something else? Ideally, how would you like to end that sentence?<\/p>\n

During Mental Health Month in May, VA <\/em><\/strong>is sharing stories<\/a> from Veterans like Bridget and Greg who describe how their lives and perspectives have improved since receiving professional mental health care. Each story completes the thought, \u201cToday, I am \u2026\u201d and includes information about the treatments that helped each Veteran process their past, manage their symptoms and map out their future.<\/p>\n

Today, Bridget is connected<\/h2>\n

Bridget faced hardships during her Navy service\u2014including abuse from a fellow service member and partner\u2014that took a toll on her mental health and ability to form relationships. Dialectical behavior therapy and other VA-provided treatments helped her manage her posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Mental health care also helped her open up and move beyond the isolation that had served as her comfort zone, in part by finding groups that shared her interest in creative arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something going on in your area that\u2019s a Veterans\u2019 group that\u2019s doing something creative,\u201d Bridget said. \u201cConnect to the community because that\u2019s something that changed things for me drastically. Find that in your region and just connect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Greg is recovering<\/h2>\n

During and after his service in the Army from 1985 to 1988, Greg faced challenges with depression and substance misuse, which got him into trouble for two decades. Nothing helped for the long term until he started visiting a VA hospital. Greg got on track to recovery by starting medication for depression, following a 12-step recovery program for his substance misuse and addressing his mental health through therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had a drug in almost 12 years,\u201d said Greg, who has since attended college, married and bought his first home. He advises any Veteran experiencing mental health or substance misuse challenges to reach out to VA, adding, \u201cIt saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

How are you today?<\/h2>\n

This May, Veterans and their supporters are encouraged to think about how they would like to finish the thought, \u201cToday, I am \u2026\u201d and find inspiration in stories from Veterans like Bridget and Greg.<\/p>\n

To learn more about how mental health support at VA has helped these Veterans and could help you, too, visit the Make the Connection website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care","category-mental-health-recovery"],"yoast_head":"\nVeterans share how mental health care improved their lives - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260\"},\"wordCount\":445,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-310.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health & Care\",\"Mental Health & Recovery\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260\",\"name\":\"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-310.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-310.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-310.png\",\"width\":723,\"height\":723},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8260#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives - Its Veterans","description":"This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives - Its Veterans","og_description":"This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives","datePublished":"2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260"},"wordCount":445,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-310.png","articleSection":["Health & Care","Mental Health & Recovery"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260","name":"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-310.png","datePublished":"2024-05-07T14:30:00+00:00","description":"This Mental Health Month, VA is sharing stories of Veterans who found a new sense of self, purpose and hope through mental health support.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-310.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-310.png","width":723,"height":723},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8260#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Veterans share how mental health care improved their lives"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}