When It Comes to Our Veterans’ Mental Health, We Ought to Spare No Expense

by Shawn Drury

If I were to form a line of people most deserving of help in the form of tax dollars, veterans with mental illnesses would be right at the front.

But those who need help are often afraid to ask for it.

Consider what happened to thirty-year-old Air Force Reserve Capt. Jamie Brunette, who was found dead early last month from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Brunette had a secret struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, but she rarely spoke of her troubles, so her death came as a shock to her family and friends, many of whom gathered last week at a memorial service in Tampa.

If you walk through a city of almost any decent size you will see homeless people, many of whom are veterans, many of whom have serious mental illness. The statistics are staggering. On average 22 veterans a day take their lives. Female veterans are three times as likely to commit suicide as women who did not serve.

When news broke last year of the failings of the Veterans Administration, Republicans were quick to point the finger at President Obama. Yet it was Republicans who supported the sequester, which cut much-needed funding for mental health services. It was Republicans who blocked a mental health bill.

Our government is too big, they say. We have to make difficult budget decisions, they say. Let the market fix this problem, they say. Actually, no. If there is one thing we ought to spend public money on it is to help our veterans overcome the horrors that resulted from their service to our country.

The next time an elected official extols the many virtues of our veterans, check his or her record. The worst kind of politician is the one who cavalierly sends troops off to risk their lives, only to vote against funding to help many of those same members of our military fight an even more pernicious enemy, one we can’t see.

“We owe our service members the very best and that means assuring that they always have access to high-quality services and care, including mental health care.” -Sen. Elizabeth Warren