Such programs are desperately needed, as the number of veterans suffering from serious mental health concerns is only growing. Seventeen veterans died by suicide every day in 2019, according to the 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. The National Center for PTSD estimates that, on average, 7 percent of all veterans will have PTSD in their lifetimes; that number is elevated among female veterans, at 13 percent, in part because of higher rates of military sexual trauma among women. Other studies have shown that veterans sustain several other health conditions at higher rates than the general population: More than one in ten have a diagnosed substance use disorder, and at least two-thirds of veterans who served after 9/11 have “diagnosable mental health concerns.”
Source: Why Nature-Based Therapy Is Gaining Traction Among Veterans | Science| Smithsonian Magazine
