The National Defense Committee assists veterans and military-connected families in finding the help they need, especially among substance abuse and mental health matters, but also for caregiver issues and with both VA and DOD health care concerns.
Substance Abuse
The VA currently will not give a person comorbid substance abuse and in person PTSD treatments at the same time. This has led to problems with patients receiving treatment for PTSD because patients relive their past traumas over the course of their treatment. Without the necessary support, patients may relapse on prior substance abuse problems as they relive their past traumatic experiences.
Mental Health / Suicide Prevention
We focus on two main areas with mental health / suicide prevention, these are combat veteran suicide risk and moral injury. NDC works with different partners in order to provide our combat veterans with proper resources to combat the higher suicide risks associated with the combat veteran population. Additionally, NDC has been working on the traumas of moral injury. We have been working to integrate chaplains into veteran mental health treatment.