Research Substance Abuse And The Veteran Population

Substance Abuse and the Veteran Population
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Substance Abuse and the Veteran Population
Introduction
Substance abuse, including excessive consumption of alcohol and use of drugs, has been found to be a common problem among the veteran population. As members of the military return from their various deployment locations, they suffer from mental and physical problems which often lead to substance abuse. Studies have revealed that changes in combat environments over the past few years have increased the emotional and traumatic impact on veteran and this increases the prevalence of substance abuse. According to Vazan, Golub and Bennett (2013), a huge percentage of individuals who use drugs among veterans unusually involve excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking of cigarettes, drug abuse (particularly prescription medications), and increased prevalence of substance use disorders (SUDs). This paper critically analyzes the prevalence of substance abuse among the veteran population.
Prevalence of Substance Abuse
Annually, numerous individuals in the army leave service and become veterans in their societies. Huge stress and other demands that the army personnel, including combat trauma usually contributes to the high rate of substance abuse among the veteran population. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health produced a report in 2013 showing that 1.5 million veterans had a problem of substance abuse during the past year (samhsa.gov, 2015). This is 6.6% of the veteran population which is approximately 1 in 15 veterans, while the national average is 8.6%, or 1 in 11 people. Furthermore, the rate of substance abuse among the pre-Vietnam period was 3.7% while that of veterans who served after September 2001 was 12.7%. The military environment is highly demanding while the experiences which the troops encounter during combat usually increased psychological distress and this further worsens the problems of substance abuse and associated disorders.
The numbers of both recorded and current individuals who have a history of substance abuse has been increasing. For example, the rate of drug use was found to be 1.9% while excessive consumption of alcohol was 4.0%. Tedesco, et al (2013) carried out a study to determine the prevalence of substance abuse and individuals suffering from obesity and undergoing bariatric surgery. The study showed that close to three quarters of veterans suffering from substance abuse were at least overweight and over a third of these individuals were either obese or suffering from morbid obesity. Ongoing studies have found that substance use is a contraindication to weight loss surgery, but it is not clearly known if a history of substance abuse contributes to different outcomes in bariatric surgery.
Precursors of Substance Abuse
Studies have revealed that substance abuse is closely associated with numerous other factors that motivate veterans to be involved in excessive consumption of alcohol and other illegal substances and prescription medicine. For instance, increased combat exposure as well as multiple deployment increases the risks substance abuse and other forms of drug problems. Moreover, increased reliance of prescribed drugs is common among veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), constant pain, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Miller, et al, 2013). These health conditions usually complicate the problem of alcohol and drug abuse. Furthermore, other challenges of civilian lifestyle such as financial complications, loss of employment opportunity, and domestic problems and divorce usually push veterans towards drug abuse and excessive consumption of alcohol.
Studies have revealed that illegal substances, including bhang, cocaine, and methamphetamine is low among veterans when compared to the rapid increase in the use of prescription drugs, especially among individuals who want to relieve pain. Many veterans who want to relieve pain either turn to alcoholism and substance abuse, particularly to the abuse of prescription medication (Miller, et al, 2013). This is because individuals with serious injuries, both physical and psychological, usually have a legitimate reason of using pain medications. However, this issue usually escalates to a level where reliance on pain relievers leads to drug abuse.
Furthermore, increased access to pain relievers mixed with availability of prescription drugs worsens the risks of drug misuse among veterans. Studies have shown that prescription drugs provided by physicians in the military more than quadrupled from 2001 to 2009, reaching over 3.8 million. A report published by the Department of Defense showed that although misuse of prescription drugs among civilians was 4.4%, misuse amo...