Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental healthâ€"related outcomesâ€"in particular, suicideâ€"at a higher rate than the general population. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.

This four-volume set provides a history of veterans' healthcare that examines programs of care and veterans' special needs, and offers insight into future directions for veteran's healthcare in the 21st century. This comprehensive contribution to understanding veterans' healthcare uniquely draws on a national and international cadre of scientists and practitioners, both within the Department of Veterans Affairs and specialists beyond the institution, providing a matrix view of veterans' healthcare, past, present, and future, both nationally and internationally. This work will prove an essential reference set that examines and identifies veterans' healthcare through the first decade of the 21st century, invaluable to health and psychology researchers and students, policymakers, social workers, and veterans. The Praeger Handbook of Veterans' Health: History, Challenges, Issues, and Developments is organized to cover four key elements. Volume I presents a history of veterans' healthcare, the various veteran's eras, and the global healthcare provided to our veterans. Volume II examines several of the programs of care and veterans' special needs. Volume III is devoted to the several aspects of mental health care, treatment, and rehabilitation services offered to veterans through the healthcare system. The last volume offers insights into future directions for veterans' healthcare.