Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Kimberly Boswell leads opens the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee meeting on Oct. 23, 2024 in Montgomery where state officials discussed addressing traumatic brain injuries in veterans, linking them to mental health issues and higher suicide risk. (Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector)
Alabama officials are looking to address traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among veterans.
At a meeting Wednesday, members of the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee discussed the link between TBI, mental health issues and substance abuse, which could put veterans at higher risk for suicide.
April Turner, state head injury coordinator for the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, said that TBI is a “silent epidemic,” with an estimated 102,000 Alabamians living with a brain injury, including non-veterans. The number of veterans in Alabama with TBI is not available, but nationwide, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports over 185,000 veterans currently have at least one documented TBI.
“Without screening, our veterans may receive inadequate mental health care treatments or medications, because they can overlap with depression and PTSD,” Turner said during her presentation. “Treatment occurs within the context of the brain injury. You have to address the brain injury. That’s why screening is so important to us.”
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Turner said screening could prevent veterans from receiving inadequate treatment, especially in mental health programs where TBI-related symptoms might be misdiagnosed as depression or PTSD.
Alabama’s Department of Rehabilitation Services is also working to implement a federal TBI grant, allowing screenings across mental health and substance abuse treatment programs statewide.
Alabama state committee looks to address gaps in veteran mental health care
Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Kimberly Boswell said she will push for more TBI screenings in existing mental health services, which she said can be done in as little as 10 minutes remotely with a therapist. Once a TBI screening is completed, the person screened is then matched with different resources depending on the severity of the TBI.
“One of my big things is going to be– we need to be screening for brain injury everywhere there is a veteran. We need to be doing that for everybody in our mental health programs and our substance use programs,” Boswell said.
Boswell said that certain medications, such as benzodiazepines, which can be prescribed for several mental health disorders, could worsen symptoms for TBI sufferers.
Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, a member of the steering committee, called the presentation “eye-opening.” Though he said he was familiar with TBI issues, he said the scope of its prevalence among veterans was new information.
“Traumatic brain injuries are so pervasive throughout our population, not just with veterans, and the significance in terms of mental health that it carries for the whole state of Alabama … that was new to me,” Oliver said.
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