The effects of mental illness and substance abuse amongst homeless veterans

Abstract

This paper explores how mental illness and substance abuse correlate, to cause an increase in the homeless veteran population. The specific mental illnesses that will be explored is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); alcohol and drug abuse are the two forms of substance abuse that will be used within the research. This paper examines several articles, that explain comorbidity and how it has a significant effect on veterans. The information gathered is combined with reports from Veteran Affairs (VA), the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) and the U.S. Conference Mayors' Report to support the data that homelessness among the veteran populations is an area of concern for the United States government.