Student Veterans' Attitudes Towards Mental Health Issues and Treatments

Mental health concerns with United States veterans have been a pervasive issue for decades. The changes and evolving nature of the mental health field, including terminology and diagnoses, are believed to discourage veterans from reaching out and asking for help when it is needed most. However, these are not the only reasons why veterans choose not to seek out treatment. It has been found that other reasons include the stigma towards mental health alongside financial, external costs, and hidden costs of treatment. The following study has been conducted to understand the various barriers that hinder student veterans with mental health issues from seeking out treatment. The same research has been administered to better understand how these student veterans can be better supported during and after service. This study consisted of 24 participants who took an anonymous Qualtrics survey sent out to student veteran centers affiliated with universities across the United States. Questions consisted of different areas regarding demographic information, various mental health issues they experienced, attitudes towards mental health issues, and how student veterans believed they can best be supported.