American Veterans and the Evolution of Mental Health: A Historical Review of Diagnoses and Depiction

Abstract

This article reviews the interwoven history surrounding mental health diagnoses and military veteran depictions of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Including a detailed historical review focusing on three major time periods: WWI-Korean War (1915-1950s); Vietnam War (1960s-1980s); and the Gulf/Middle East conflicts (1981-Present). By noting prevailing connections throughout these time periods, including the continuity of stigma and the depictions of veterans as well as the evolution of changing interpretations in what images and depictions of veterans mean including their associated social and political usages. Finally, a number of implications, both positive and negative surrounding the interconnected nature of veterans and mental health (namely PTSD), are offered, with recommendations for future inquiry and policy.

Media coverage of Canadian Veterans, with a focus on post traumatic stress disorder and suicide

“…The results reveal some encouraging findings as well as room for improvement regarding media coverage of Canadian Veterans. As stated in the introduction, an amassed corpus of US research indicates that the US media often focuses on factors such as trauma, emotional instability and drugs/alcohol when reporting Veterans, with a lack of positive stories and an emphasis on Veterans as victims [ 14 – 17 ]. However, the present study indicates that the Canadian media typically represent Veterans in a positive manner, with a focus on commemoration and honour in over 50% of articles, often in reference to World War 2.…”

“…Some US research indicates that military Veterans are framed in a stereotypical and narrow manner in the American media. For example, one recent review paper notes that US media portrayals of Veterans commonly emphasize factors such as trauma, emotional instability and drugs/alcohol [ 14 ]. Similarly, a report from the US Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration [ 15 ] notes a lack of positive well-rounded stories, instead lamenting the common use of negative and stigmatizing depictions such as ‘ticking time bombs’ or ‘damaged and potentially unstable’ when referring to American Veterans.…”

“…All this led the US National Veterans Foundation [ 23 ] to state that ‘the media is the main culprit in fostering negative stereotypes about Veterans’, with Erwin [ 14 ] similarly noting that negative coverage creates inaccurate ‘public perceptions of veterans as emotionally unstable citizens on the verge of breakdown’. Some research indicates that this can contribute to a wider climate of suspicion and fear, which can impede the reintegration of Veterans into society.…”