Mental Health

Dr. Elaine Boland, a research psychologist at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, understands that it’s critical for people with insomnia to receive treatments tailored to their needs.

To make sure Veterans don’t miss out on mental health care, VA has a number of ways Veterans can maintain their well-being no matter where they are, including mobile apps, self-help trainings, videos, and websites.

This Mental Health Month, pause to focus on your well-being. It’s always the right time to make your mental health a priority.

Many women have mental health issues during or after pregnancy. These rates may be even higher in women Veterans. Anxiety during and after pregnancy are common. These conditions are treatable.

Tai chi master Zibin Guo teaches the quiet martial art to a group of VA caregivers. They will work as a team to develop programs for Veterans to engage in wheelchair tai chi.

VA’s Women’s Health Transition Training provides valuable information about how to enroll in VA benefits and VA women’s health care services…beyond general preventative care and wellness.

For their appointments with their VA health care provider, many Oklahoma Veterans stay home and use their smartphone or computer instead. Read all about VA Video Connect virtual appointments.

Dr. Mike McBride was providing telehealth when telehealth wasn’t cool. The Milwaukee VA psychiatrist, who is also an Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran, was the first provider here to use mental health telehealth in someone’s home about three years ago. McBride was treating a Veteran with severe post-traumatic stress who couldn’t leave the house because of other medical issues.

VA recently released its “VA Suicide Prevention Toolkit for Caregivers,” a comprehensive guide aimed at providing caregivers with resources to help them care for not only Veterans, but also themselves.

In the past year, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile have partnered with VA to break down barriers to providing mental health services to Veterans. Now, Sprint has released the first video to highlight VA’s TeleMental Health services. Dr. Teri Carper, a VA provider who took part in the production, reflects on the ways the TeleMental Health program has changed over the years. She also discusses how new technologies such as VA Video Connect are enabling more Veterans to take advantage of telehealth care.

The statistics are staggering: safe firearm storage practices can more than cut in half the chances a friend, co-worker, child, or other family member dies by suicide.

MakeTheConnection.net is an online resource designed to connect Veterans, their family members, friends and other supporters with information, resources and solutions to issues affecting their lives.