Coos Bay NAMI Project aims to help troubled veterans

Project aims to help troubled veterans
By Jolene Guzman, Staff Writer


COOS BAY — They are warriors. They see themselves as strong. They don’t realize — or don’t want to believe — they need help.

Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder discover months or years later it takes more than time and a few drinks to chase their problems away. A group of local organizations and volunteers wants to be there for those vets and their families when they ask for a helping hand.

Veteran and retired physician John Mesquita said many vets are brought back home and dropped into society without much of a transition. They go through a period when they feel they just need to “man up” and handle service-related problems on their own. Family and friends are more likely to notice the signs of PTSD before the vet.

“The common denominator is do they ask for help,” he said.

Mesquita helped built a partnership between the Coos County National Alliance on Mental Illness, local Department of Veterans’ Affairs mental health professionals and the Nancy Devereux Center to start weekly PTSD group counseling sessions in Coos Bay. The sessions are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The goal of the sessions is to offer a comfortable place for vets and their families to find helping and understanding.

“We want to give more than lip service,” Mesquita said. “We want this to be a step up, stand up and do the right thing kind of service.”

Monday sessions are for all veterans seeking counseling. Wednesday sessions are directed at vets who have served and returned in the last 10 years, and each Friday special support groups are scheduled for families of vets suffering from PTSD.
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Project aims to help troubled veterans