Homeless veterans on the rise

Homeless veterans on the rise

There is a growing issue among our soldiers, returning from war, with mental health problems.
More and more are ending up homeless, and on the streets. A conference to address the homeless in Colorado Springs was held at the First Presbyterian church on Monday. A hot topic there was the cause of a growing number of soldiers, who are returning home, only to end up on the streets.

Jack Freeman works with homeless vets through the Department of Veterans Affairs. He says, "We're starting to see the beginning of vets that have gotten out after the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts."

From the battle zone to home life, it's a transition more and more soldiers can't seem to make.
Steven Kidd is a clinical psychologist for the VA. His job is to go inside the mind of a homeless vet. He says, "Those memories, all those issues keep coming back, and resurfacing, and disrupt the desire to live a normal life."

Part of the blame, he says, is mental health issues that are not properly addressed. He says, "Most of the folks we've seen are trying to self treat other problems, like traumatic brain injury or PTSD through alcohol and drugs."

Fort Carson leaders have said as many as 20% of returning soldiers are reporting symptoms of PTSD. Kidd says, "We're asking more of them than we ever have, so it wouldn't be surprising if we had a higher rate of PTSD from this war, that's purely speculation."

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