Date of Award

Summer 6-28-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Abstract

After deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, there was an increase from 11.4% to 15% of the number of military members diagnosed with depression (Inoue et al., 2021). This shows that efforts such as psychotherapy, medication management and supportive services, aimed at providing help to military veterans with depression are not working as effectively as anticipated. This study was conducted to identify the effectiveness of interventions aimed at helping military veterans dealing with depression, and to make recommendations on changes that might improve psychotherapy, medication management, and supportive services for military veterans dealing with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. Current literature describes the various interventions available for dealing with PTSD and depression among veterans, though not much has been written on the effectiveness of these interventions. The current study involved interviewing three subject matter experts, such as a psychiatrist and 2 psychologists. The current study also entailed a survey that was conducted to gather the opinions of veterans regarding the treatment, interventions and supportive services available to help them deal with depression. This research helped shed light on what is not working regarding psychotherapy, medication management, and supportive services that they receive from the VA in the fight against PTSD/depression.

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