BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

No ‘continuity in mental health care’ from VA: Veteran

  • A veteran is speaking out about his struggles getting mental health care
  • Joseph Cantasano: 'The VA has continued to let me down.'
  • Another veteran says the military teaches them 'somebody has it worse'

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

ovp test

mLife Diagnostics LLC: Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Male shot by female at Shreveport apartment

Class to create biodiverse backyard

Rules for outbursts at Caddo School Board Meeting

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

(NewsNation) — Army veteran Joseph Cantasano is going viral on social media after sharing his struggles getting regular mental health support from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I just want some continuity in care dude. I’m so tired of it,” Cantasano said in the video as he struggled to speak through tears. “The VA has continued to let me down.”

Cantasano recorded the video after finding out his mental health provider would no longer be able to take him on as a patient. He says he has received care from the VA, but his doctors are constantly changing, with seven different doctors over the past six years.

The Florida-based veteran didn’t want to share his diagnosis but described the process of trying to obtain care as a “maze filled with red tape.”

Cantasano spoke to NewsNation about the reaction to his video, saying, “I absolutely do feel like I did the right thing posting it. I’ve shown myself raw, which a lot of people are uncomfortable doing. It really showed the greatness of the situation that, you know, tens of thousands of veterans are facing and the struggle that they’re going through trying to find quality mental health care and continuity in mental health care.”

The VA said they couldn’t discuss the claims in Cantasano’s video due to patient privacy.

Cantasano’s video got about 765,000 views, catching the attention of many, including the VA. The day after posting the video, the VA offered to help him with his case.

Twenty-four veterans die by suicide every day, a recent America’s Warrior Partnership study found. Most are diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I, like a lot of veterans, waited way too long to get care and to reach out. I spent a little over ten years kind of telling myself what I was dealing with couldn’t be PTSD because I didn’t feel like I had earned it,” veteran and author Jason Kander said. “That’s what most veterans think because when you’re in the military, one of the things you’re taught is, somebody has it worse.”

From 2001 to 2015, as many as 500,000 troops have been diagnosed with PTSD, according to data from the VA.

“We memorialize all those who have fallen in service to our country, in combat. But imagine if we built a wall for all of the individuals who committed suicide as a direct result of the shortcomings of the mental health care in this country,” Cantasano said. “Imagine how big that wall would be. It’d be gigantic.”

Military

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Mostly Cloudy

la

52°F Mostly Cloudy Feels like 52°
Wind
0 mph NE
Humidity
83%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Cloudy. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.
49°F Cloudy. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
3 mph ENE
Precip
3%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Last Quarter