Maybe it’s the moment when you realize that things could be better or the moment when you decide you need to reach out for help. Or, maybe it’s the moment when you know that help is working — that your life has changed for the better.
This Mental Health Month, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention is highlighting the many moments — big and small — that can make up a Veteran’s mental health recovery.
For La Wanda, a U.S. Navy Veteran, it was the moment when a friend bluntly said what she needed to hear: “You know there’s help out there available — and you need to get it.”
For Joseph, a U.S. Navy Veteran, it was the moment when he reconnected with an old teacher. That meeting spurred him to see a counselor, which changed his life. “All of a sudden,” he says, “I wasn’t alone anymore.
For Richard, a Vietnam Veteran, it was the moment when he began to feel rejuvenated by his mental health treatment. He had tried to deal with feelings of anger and depression on his own. But now, with treatment, he thought: “This is helping. This is working.”
A run-in with the law, a divorce, or the loss of a career could be the wake up call that sparks a change. But many other times, it could be a small thing, the moments that happen on a routine Wednesday afternoon. The one conversation.
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