Yoga helps wounded veterans at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, from amputees to trauma victims, the military is increasingly including alternative therapies into their cadre of healing therapies.

Veterans from Desert Storm and other conflicts have switched guns for cameras as the NBA partnered with the Army Reserve Employer partnership Office to teach veterans about video production.

Veterans unemployment rate continues to drop.  May, 2013 figures continue the dramatic decline in unemployment numbers, particularly for post 9/11 veterans, that many feared was too good to be true.  The continued good news can be laid on the doorstep of a White House that pulled out all stops to see that veterans had jobs to go to when they left the service.

Nonetheless, there are veterans who find it hard to find work, particularly women and those under the age of 25.  Young male veterans face a 9 percent unemployment rate, while young female veterans face a rate of 11.6 percent unemployment.

To help out unemployed female veterans, Goodwill just announced a new initiative to help 3,000 women who served find jobs over the next two years.

Image courtesy of The Telegraph.

“The results of our trial are encouraging for veterans trying to find help for PTSD,” researcher Anthony P. King, Ph.D., said in a statement. “Mindfulness techniques seemed to lead to a reduction in symptoms and might be a potentially effective novel therapeutic approach to PTSD and trauma-related conditions.”

The researchers found that over twice as many people who underwent the mindfulness therapy had  reduced PTSD symptoms compared with those who underwent the standard PTSD treatment - 73 percent compared to 33 percent.

With more than one million servicemen and women expected to make the transition from combat to civilian life in the next few years, health problems like PTSD and thoughts of suicide could increase. Additional stressors such as a poor economy, an increasing backlog of veterans benefits claims and occasionally unwise spending habits contribute to the failing mental health of many veterans, experts told NBC News.

“When you feel like you can’t take care of your family, feed them, shelter them, it’s a very, very dark place. A feeling of uselessness that maybe they would be better off if you’re not around,” Navy veteran Adam Legg told NBC News.

The Joining Forces Employment event at the White House enlisted the help of major companies in the U.S. to ensure they  meet their goals to increase veterans benefits in the workplace. They announced that Wal-Mart, The Blackstone Group and UPS are among the major American brands that are committing to hiring hundreds of thousands of veterans and their spouses. Wal-Mart previously announced that it will hire a veteran who was discharged honorably in the year he or she leaves the service, and they plan to hire them within 30 days of submitting an application.

Michelle Obama and  Dr. Jill Biden have been the driving forces behind this new initiative. On April 30, the First Lady announced that America’s businesses nearly tripled the goal set by President Obama within eight months after it was set. The private sector has already hired or trained 290,000 veterans and military spouses to date.

President Obama noted that the workforce doesn’t always respect the experience that servicemen and women have gained while in combat.

“If you can save a life on the battlefield then you can sure as heck save one in an ambulance,” Obama said. “If you can oversee a convoy of equipment and track millions of dollars of assets, then you can run a company supply chain or you can balance its books.”

“When they hit the job market, employers don’t always recognize the high-quality, high-tech skills our newest veterans have gained in the military. They don’t understand the leadership that they’ve shown under extraordinary circumstances,” he said. “So, too often, just when these men and women are looking to move forward in the next chapter of their lives, they’re stuck in neutral, scraping together odd jobs just to pay the bills.”

According to the White House blog, other companies such as USAA, McDonald’s and AT&T will also join in the cause. McDonald’s  pledged to hire 100,000 vets over the next three years, and USAA said that they will make 30 percent of new hires veterans or their spouses. The First Lady said these plans to hire soldiers  will not only help bring down unemployment among vets, it will also give  veterans an identity and a purpose.

“When we came in, there was no plan to change [the paper claims system],” Sowers told MSNBC. “We’ve been operating on a six-month wait for over a decade.”

Sowers said that by the time the new administration was appointed to fix the growing backlog, they were left with large amounts of paper claims and no one knew how to combat the problem.

“We know this process is taking too long and this is why we’ve put in a technology fix, but this is what we’re dealing with,” Sowers continued. “This is an average claim,” he said, holding up a stack of paper about 2.5 inches thick. “This is what we inherited in 2009, millions of these paper documents with no plans to fix it.”

Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist noted to Sowers that 97 percent of claims are still made on paper, something that Sowers said would soon be fixed. He pointed out that the organization was determined to implement the paperless system and teach new veterans how to use it.

“This has been a problem that has been decades in the making,” Sowers noted. “That is why we are taking it head-on to solve this problem for good.”

Despite a growing backlog of claims, Sowers offered some hopeful news. He pointed out that delays on claims do not transfer over to delays on care, saying that anyone seeking care for mental health problems or substance abuse problems is able to access veterans benefits at any VA hospital at no cost for five years after service.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki is also hopeful that the backlog will be over by 2015, and he concluded that everyone is working hard to end the problem as soon as possible.

“No veteran should have to wait for claims,” Shineski said. “If there’s anybody impatient here, I am that individual, and we’re pushing hard. There are going to be a few [veterans with claims] who are complex enough to go longer than we’d like, but there is a lot of working being done.”

In 2012, the VA processed over one million claims that cover increasingly complex conditions including traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder and far-reaching exposure to toxins like Agent Orange.  Claims are being processed more quickly and with greater accuracy, but with the influx of returning veterans, increasingly complex diagnoses and long-standing illnesses that have been only recently determined to be qualified for disability compensation, catching up continues to be a challenge and patience is wearing thin.

Image courtesy of Bing.com

“Major League Baseball considers it both a privilege and a responsibility to honor and assist our troops in any way we can,” Commissioner Bud Selig told MLB.com. “We are proud to support this initiative, and we ask our fans to join us … in this effort to raise awareness and funds for this important cause.”

The organization is currently funding PTSD research and services for veterans benefits at Weill-Cornell Dept. of Psychiatry (New York, NY); University of Michigan Depression Center (Ann Arbor, MI); Stanford University Dept. of Psychiatry (Palo Alto, CA); Mass General Hospital (Boston); Emory (Atlanta); UCLA; Duke University; and Rush University Medical Center. 

Veterans and their families receive on-going treatment for any PTSD-related issue.  The organization is also working to change the way Americans think and talk about PTSD. The McCormick Foundation will contribute a minimum of $2.5 million in addition to the $10 million donation from MLB.

“We are grateful for Major League Baseball and the caring fans who have stepped up and given generously to support healthcare and research to help veterans successfully return to life with their families and communities,” David Hiller, president and CEO of the McCormick Foundation, said in an MLB release.

During MLB games on Memorial Day (May 27), all 30 teams will wear specially designed caps featuring a military digital camouflage design officially licensed from the U.S. Marine Corps. The hats will go on sale to the public at the MLB shop and proceeds will go to Welcome Back Veterans.

“We as players are extremely proud not only to wear these caps but also to represent and pay our respects to our returning veterans,” New York Mets third baseman David Wright said at the introductory news conference announcing Welcome Back Veterans. “Growing up in a military town in Virginia, I have friends and family who have given up their lives to serve a cause. Because of these men and women, I get the opportunity to play a game and live in freedom. I hope we remember these veterans.”

Photo courtesy of Welcome Back Veterans dot org.