As organizations at Syracuse University collaborate for Mental Health Awareness Week, some veterans on campus have found a variety of resources to help them handle their post-military mental health.

When Kierston Whaley, an Army veteran, first arrived at SU, she said she was used to a regimented routine and like-minded people with the same issues she had. It took her a while to find the Student Veterans Organization, but she said when she did, it bettered her college experience.

“(SVO’s) goal is to ensure that student veterans on campus have the support they need, the resources they need and the camaraderie they want,” Whaley said.

There are about 100 students involved in SVO, she said.

On average, about 20 veterans commit suicide each day, according to Mission 22, an organization that works to prevent veteran suicide.

“I don’t want to say it’s common because it really brings the stigma that we’re broken, but I would say every veteran returns with some form of PTSD,” Whaley said.

Veterans do not want to be separated or ostracized as a group that is broken when many different people suffer from mental health issues, said Ginger Star Peterman, an Army veteran and member of SVO.

“I think being a veteran, you just struggle in different spaces and then have to deal with the stigma that comes from being a veteran,” Peterman said. “It makes it difficult for veterans to really hang onto civilian tasks in many ways.”

The Behavioral Health Outpatient Clinic, an extension of the Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center, helps veterans get treatment for issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, substance addiction or homelessness. Whaley and Peterman said they both get treatment from the clinic.

Whaley said she has panic attacks because of her service in Afghanistan. Peterman said she has dealt with her PTSD in different stages and is now concentrating on her personal identity.

Whaley and Peterman each added that veterans experience mental health issues differently.

Bethany Stewart, a behavioral health management and program analyst at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said each person has specific needs.

“There isn’t an outline for what one person’s treatment looks like because it’s just one person,” Stewart said.

In August, the Syracuse clinic had about 1,400 appointments for psychiatry and therapy, not including walk-ins or telehealth counseling, Stewart said.

Published on October 4, 2017 at 9:55 pm

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert