Family of Active Duty Military

HVRC understand the strain that soldiers and military families are under. Unfortunately, this often manifests in a substance use disorder. Our chemical dependency specialists offer treatment tailored to military family members, ensuring empowerment and complete recovery.

HVRC Treats Military Family Members

Nearly 200,000 active-duty military personnel are currently stationed overseas. While their loved ones brave the front lines, soldiers’ spouses and children face their own battles with mental health and substance abuse back home. The significant strain of living in a military family can take a heavy toll.

Hemet Valley Recovery Center & Sage Retreat is an addiction hospital that specializes in treating military family members, whether from nearby Coronado Naval Base or elsewhere. We understand families of active-duty servicemembers deal with far more instability and upheaval than the overall population. Cross-country transfers uproot their lives, creating a constant cycle of new homes, schools, friends and neighbors that alienates spouses from their pre-existing support structures.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Challenges in Military Families

Often, husbands and wives will put their careers on the back burner to accommodate for the hectic lifestyle deployment creates, which also involves effectively becoming a single parent. The roles two people used to be able to split equally now fall to just one person. Budget management, child care and other concerns can become overwhelming.

The struggle of a military spouse can also be emotional. On top of day-to-day tasks and stressors, the concern for a loved one in a war zone can create a near-constant state of worry for those back home. Left untreated, this can have lasting effects on one’s mental health.

According to a 2010 study of more than 250,000 Army wives, nearly one-third (31.3 percent) of spouses of deployed soldiers had at least one mental health diagnosis. That number doubled when the spouse had been gone for more than 11 months. These women received more diagnoses of depression, sleep disorders and anxiety than military wives whose partners were at home. This also created higher instances of substance abuse among those affected by deployment – alcohol and drug use can gradually develop in an effort to cope with mental illness and stress.

One study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration surveyed 910,000 female spouses of military personnel. They found that when compared with all married women, military wives were more likely to use alcohol in the past 30 days (67.8 vs. 53.8 percent), and were more likely to have engaged in binge drinking in the past 30 days (31.5 vs. 22.7 percent). This extends to the children of military personnel. Studies show middle school and high school students with a deployed parent had higher rates of alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use and prescription drug abuse than children of civilian families.

Getting Substance Abuse Help in Southern California

If you’re in a military family, you’re keenly aware of the cost of your family member’s service to the country, but you don’t have to let it affect your health. There is hope for military family members struggling with addiction and mental health issues. Hemet Valley Recovery Center & Sage Retreat provides comprehensive detoxification, addiction rehabilitation and aftercare to active-duty and reserve servicemembers, retirees and their families. We can tailor coverage to individual needs, including services for psychiatric inpatient and outpatient treatment, residential treatment services and substance use disorder treatment.

We understand addiction is a chronic disease that requires professional treatment. Our caring addiction management specialists will stay with you every step of the way, from managing withdrawal symptoms to identifying a course of treatment specific to your need.