Mental health resources available for women veterans

FOR THE VETERAN OF THE VETERAN SHARE OF THE DAY

Mental health resources available for women veterans
By Dave Lubach
Wednesday, Jun 7
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 10: Susan Selke (3rd L), parent of Marine veteran Clay Hunt who committed suicide due to PTSD, testifies as Jean (2nd L) and Howard Somers (L), whose son Daniel took his own life after he returned from a second deployment in Iraq, look on during a hearing before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee July 10, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The hearing was to examine VA's mental health care system on dealing with the high suicide rate of service members. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

About 10 years ago, Veterans Administration hospitals started to see a rise in women scheduling mental health appointments – a trend that seemed to catch healthcare workers off guard.

“At that time, the VA really didn’t have a huge infrastructure related to women’s health,” said Jena Hedrick-Walker, the director of strategic development for Loyal Source, a veteran-friendly healthcare company. “Women would go to the VA and get asked, ‘Where is your spouse?’ and they’d say, ‘This is my appointment. I’m a veteran.’”

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk SGT (Join to see)] Sgt (Join to see) PV2 Larry Sellnow SPC Gary C. SPC (Join to see) Amn Dale Preisach SGT Ruben Lozada 1SG Patrick Burke PO2 Marco Monsalve Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Kim Patterson SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Ralph E Kelley PV2 Scott M. PO1 Lyndon Thomas CPL Patrick Ras