JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Wounded Warrior Project is expanding its mental health program through its Warrior Care Network.
Now a veteran struggling with addiction to alcohol or painkillers, for example, can get treatment for the addiction and for PTSD at the same time.
Spokesman for WWP, Rob Louis, says this helps address a big problem. He says too often, treatment programs tell veterans they must get clean from their substance abuse before they can enter a PTSD program. That can be almost impossible.
The WWP treatment program will be at four medical center partners: Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, Road Home Program at Rush University Medical Center, UCLA and Home Base, a Boston Red Sox and Massachusetts General Hospital program.
Everything is free including treatment, airplane flights, hotel, and food for the veteran and a spouse or caregiver.
According to the VA, more than one in four veterans with PTSD have a Substance Use Disorder. The new program will treat both simultaneously.
Click here for more information, or you can also call WWP at 888-997-2586.
Army veteran Lawrence Chandler encourages veterans to call. He says he understands it's hard to reach out.
"It's a problem because with that comes ... you characterize yourself as being weak," he says. "It takes strength to ask for help."
Chandler served eight years in the military. He was deployed to Iraq and was a specialist in ammunition and explosives. But back home, he says, he felt "lost." An injury and dark thoughts made him -- at times -- wish he weren't alive.
He says his religious stance prevented him from suicide, but his life was in a spiral. He's a father of four, a grandfather, and a husband, but, he says, "I wasn't there for my family. I'm present, but I'm not."
He says now, because of Wounded Warriors, "I'm completely transformed. I'm present to see my grandson every day. They gave me my life back."
Chandler says the substance abuse wasn't his issue, but he saw fellow veterans struggle with that.
He's speaking about the new programs, he says, to encourage veterans to not give up. He's happy to enjoy his life and manage the severe problems from his overseas service.
He says you must reach out to turn your life around.