Key Takeaways
- More than half of veterans with mental health challenges aren’t getting the help they need (SAMHSA, 2022). Many face stigma, self-reliance pressures, or logistical barriers that make treatment feel out of reach.
- From stigma to system gaps, veterans face layered obstacles to care. Challenges like provider shortages, long wait times, and rural isolation make access to support even harder.
- Progress is possible through community, care, and connection. Expanding telehealth, peer support, and culturally aware treatment can help more veterans begin their path to healing.
Picture this: you’re aware that you’re sick, but you never get help. And then your health worsens as a result. While such a scenario may seem paradoxical, it’s a reality for many veterans today. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimates that more than half of veterans with a mental illness didn’t receive treatment in 2022, for example (SAMHSA, 2022).
And the answers to why veterans don’t seek treatment are even more complex, filled with various barriers and challenges. But in spite of these treatment barriers, there are still real pathways to healing for veterans today.
The Scope of the Problem
When you dive deeper into why veterans don’t seek treatment for their struggles, the scale of the problem is immense.
- Stat10 reports that of the 9 million veterans eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care in 2023, only 6 million were using it (STAT News, 2024). That means many were battling mental health disorders, PTSD, substance abuse, and other challenges in isolation.
- Even worse, among veterans in general who screen positive for mental health disorders or substance abuse, about 73% report no current engagement in treatment, shares Psychiatric Services.
And when veterans do seek help, they’re more often pushed toward community care and providers outside of the VA.
- In fact, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that the number of veterans referred to community care by the VA increased from 1.1 million in 2014 to 2.8 million in 2023. Consequently, the quality of care those veterans receive greatly varies (GAO, 2023).
All of these statistics reveal an even deeper story regarding barriers to veterans seeking help. When faced with mental health and substance abuse challenges, veterans struggle with lingering unmet needs, crisis risk, and a negative impact on their long-term quality of life.
Major Barriers That Prevent Veterans from Seeking Treatment
Veterans face many obstacles when it comes to accessing mental health or addiction recovery care — and those barriers are often both personal and systemic. The most common challenges include deep-seated stigma surrounding mental health within military culture, limited access to trained providers, logistical difficulties like transportation or scheduling, and the unique emotional strain of transitioning back to civilian life. Together, these factors make it harder for veterans to reach out for help, even when they recognize they need it.
Stigma, Attitudes, and Cultural Barriers to Care for Veterans
There is a pervasive stigma among veterans regarding mental health and getting treatment for it.
- According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stigma encompasses the negative attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes others hold toward people with mental health issues (CDC, 2023).
- Within military culture, stigma often becomes a veteran’s barrier to mental health care. It’s all too easy to think I should handle this myself or perceive getting help as a sign of weakness, shares RAND Health (RAND Health, 2023).
- Negative beliefs about mental health care can also be common among veterans. Many are skeptical about the long-term effectiveness of mental health treatment, explains RAND Health (RAND Health, 2023).
Others may fear any side effects due to various medications they could be prescribed. And because the military is a tight-knit community, confidentially concerns are a very real challenge. Active military veterans may choose not to seek treatment due to fear of long-term career repercussions or an impact on their reputation.
Systemic, Structural, and Logistical Challenges
Many systemic and structural issues within the American health care system also create mental health barriers for veterans, especially as dwindling provider capacity often leads to a shortage of mental health professionals available to veterans. And when they do get help, veterans deal with providers who aren’t properly trained to care for their unique needs. VA treatment barriers for veterans also exist, as veterans can face VA bureaucracy inefficiencies that hinder treatment.
Even the logistics of getting treatment itself can lead to health care challenges among veterans. The common task of scheduling an appointment that works for a veteran can be a hurdle, as well as coordinating transportation for veterans to get to their appointments.
Veterans in rural areas face transportation challenges especially, as behavioral health providers are often in major cities hours away. And if local providers exist, most have staff shortages, greatly diminishing rural veterans’ access to mental health care. Already dealing with geographical isolation, rural veterans also have limited broadband internet access, preventing them from utilizing telehealth for remote appointments (Rural Minds, 2023).
Transitional & Veteran-Specific Stressors
When coming home after deployment, veterans face unique challenges that can get in the way of their behavioral health care. Moving from an entrenched military culture back to civilian life can lead to the departure of structure and familiarity. At the same time, veterans may sense they’ve lost their identity and purpose as civilians. All of these experiences can cause transition stress on veterans’ mental health, even transition shock.
Veterans can also take on co-occurring disorders in addition to their mental health challenges. Many of these co-occurring issues deal with experiences more prevalent in the military, such as:
- PTSD
- Trauma
- Substance misuse
- Moral injury
When these co-occurring issues arise, veterans’ mental health struggles only get more complex. As these veterans adjust to civilian life, they may also distrust the “civilian mental health system” and would rather continue their military coping norms back home.
What Can Help Overcome These Barriers?
While there’s no single solution to the challenges veterans face in accessing mental health care, meaningful progress depends on action across multiple levels. Policy reforms that expand access, clinical innovations that integrate mental health into everyday care, and community-based support systems all play a role in reducing barriers.
When these efforts align, veterans are more likely to receive timely care, rebuild trust in treatment, and experience lasting stability in recovery.
Policy & System-Level Interventions
Broader policy and system-level efforts continue to shape how veterans access mental health care.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about 2.7 million veterans live in rural America, where access to mental and behavioral health services remains limited (VA Office of Rural Health, 2023).
Expanding telehealth options and strengthening the behavioral health workforce in these underserved areas are among the strategies that can help bridge these gaps.
Within the VA system, improving referral processes for community care and enhancing continuity between providers may also support more consistent treatment experiences for veterans. While these large-scale improvements take time, policy and infrastructure changes play an important role in reducing systemic barriers to care.
Programmatic & Clinical Approaches
To overcome barriers to mental health treatment, mental health needs to be prioritized within health care clinics from the start. This means incorporating mental health into veterans’ primary care visits.
According to Psychiatric Services, “gateway” symptoms like sleep struggles, pain, and general medical challenges can be utilized as less-stigmatizing identifiers for deeper mental health issues, leading to more veterans getting the care they need (Psychiatric Services, 2022).
Veteran mentors who understand military culture and can relate to other veterans can also be incorporated into clinical approaches. Mental health perspectives from peers who’ve dealt with similar struggles and have been in their shoes can help motivate veterans in need to get help.
Individual & Community Strategies
Overcoming barriers to treatment can also be done on a grassroots level, individually and within communities where veterans live. Some strategies to break down barriers include:
- Increasing veterans’ mental health awareness by providing education on their treatment options, the rights they have, and how to navigate the civilian health care system
- Normalizing veterans’ help-seeking beliefs regarding mental health through real-life veteran stories and testimonials
- Offering veteran support groups for mental health and substance abuse that provide support, accountability, and encouragement
- Encouraging veterans to take small steps in addressing their mental health struggles, such as phone consultations and mental health screenings
- Utilizing “warm handoffs”, allowing for veterans to be referred in-person to mental health treatment clinician by a provider they trust
At Defining Wellness Centers in Mississippi, we’re helping veterans overcome their barriers to mental health and addiction treatment. Our Rally Point treatment program is designed specifically for veterans by licensed clinicians trained in military culture and trauma-informed care.
Offering flexible programming, a trust-building approach, and blended treatment modalities, we help veterans address their struggles at the source and empower them to find lasting healing. To learn more about our veteran-specific treatment programming, call us now.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why do many veterans avoid getting mental health treatment?
- Many veterans face a combination of stigma, access issues, and cultural barriers that make seeking help difficult. In military culture, self-reliance is often valued, which can make reaching out for mental health support feel like a sign of weakness. Others face logistical challenges such as transportation, long wait times, or a lack of providers who understand military experiences. Transitional stress after returning to civilian life can also make it harder to ask for help.
- What are the main barriers veterans face in accessing care?
- The biggest barriers include stigma and negative attitudes toward mental health treatment, systemic challenges within the health care system, and logistical issues like limited access to providers in rural areas. For many veterans, the shift from military to civilian life adds emotional strain that complicates help-seeking. These obstacles often overlap, making it difficult for veterans to start or continue treatment.
- How can veterans overcome barriers to treatment?
- Reducing barriers starts with increasing awareness and providing more supportive care options. Expanding telehealth, integrating mental health screening into primary care visits, and encouraging peer-led or community-based support can help more veterans access the care they need. Education, honest conversations about mental health, and normalizing help-seeking behavior also make a powerful difference in overcoming stigma and fear.
Sources
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Supporting the Behavioral Health Needs of Our Nation’s Veterans. - STAT News.
Veterans Still Struggle to Access Health Care, Despite VA Eligibility. April 2024. - S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Veterans Community Care Program: VA Should Improve Data and Oversight to Better Assess Program Performance. GAO-23-105979, July 2023. - S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Stigma and Mental Health. 2023. - RAND Health.
Barriers to Mental Health Care for Veterans. RAND Corporation, 2023. - S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Self-Reliance May Affect Acceptance of Mental Health Treatment in Veterans. VA Research Currents, May 2021. - S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Rural Health.
Rural Veterans Statistics and Health Access Overview. 2023. - Psychiatric Services.
Identifying Gateway Symptoms to Improve Mental Health Treatment Uptake Among Veterans. 73, No. 12, December 2022. - Rural Minds.
Mental Health Challenges for Veterans in Rural America: Help for Our Heroes.