Why are ex service men and women so likely to become homeless?

[listsandbudgets]

If I have time I often talk to homeless people on the streets, buy them a cup of tea or a sandwich, pass over gloves if I've got any spare in my bag etc.

So many of them are ex service... but why? Why are they so vulnerable to homelessness.

I just don't get it. These are (mainly) men whove put their lives on the line and they end up sleeping on the f*cking street.

Isn't it obvious?
Mental health, trauma, alcohol / drugs. Overall lack of support and cuts to services.

Yes you feel soft and cuddly for them at that point in time but if they were your raging alcoholic neighbor I bet you'd want them out ASAP.

The Gov doesn't care and society looks the other way.

Yup the army isn't great on follow up care, I work in a psychological service and the lack of treatment often recieved when they leave the army I still find shocking xx

Many have become institutionalised by years of service living in the barracks, and then medically discharged without support.

If they don't have family they are really vulnerable. Not a high priority for social housing. Have done a specialized job which doesn't transfer to civvy street. As op has said they've put their lives on the line but because they've often lived in barracks on site and for a certain amount of their pay had meals, rent and bills taken care off, they don't always have money management skills. As one squaddie told me, money for living was taken off at source and the rest he could spend. Add to this post traumatic stress disorder and feelings of inferiority when they leave and can't get a job you can see how homelessness happens. They have been proud, hard working, loyal soldiers ...then nothing. There are organisations in place to help but sometimes its not until they are desperate that they ask for help. By this time they can be on depression medication, alcohol, drugs. Of course plenty make the transition successfully but some don't.

Wow Purpleframe never said I felt soft and cuddly just angry that these people are out on the streets without support.

A cup of tea, a cheap pair of gloves and a chat is a long way from soft and cuddly especially in this miserable weather.

Yes I can see mental health has an impact and the army taking care of them then suddenly withdrawing support must also be difficult. Its awful their aftercare is so bad. From what i've been told they look after their soldiers quite well except the fact of sending them where they may be maimed or killed yet as soon as their out of the service - nothing

They are used to an ordered and structured lifestyle. It can be difficult to fit back into civilian life especially as some of them joined the services more or less from school. The services offer a limited amount of help towards resettlement which is more focused on job finding than anything else. If an individual leaves the forces and sometime later starts to suffer from stress related to his/her time in the services but has difficulty communicating this or refuses/cannot see a doctor and there are no other servicemen around who might be able to pick up on the problem then they can end up turning to alcohol/drugs for self medication. The services don't have a revolving door, when you are out it will most likely be a charity who then pick up the pieces. The USA has a Veterans Association which looks after all of their ex-servicemen and women particularly from a healthcare standpoint which is much envied by UK ex-servicemen. I understand that individuals have attempted to engage the Government to sort out a similar structure with no little result. At the end of the day it should not be down to charities to rebuild our broken ex-servicemen.

Those in the armed forces are more susceptible to a range of problems. They are more likely to have mental health problems, addiction problems both of which lead to homelessness. They’re also more susceptible to suicide. There’s an airbase near us and they shared a post on social media the other day that had 70 pair of boots. That’s one pair of boots for every service member that had taken their life this year based at that one site.

They go to war zones and they come back have no support. There are some dedicated social media accounts now, so when a service member goes missing they can try to find them quickly and help them. But the actual support to help them is just lacking.

It's partly due to the people who choose to join in the first place, it's people who want to find belonging eg care leavers, those from dysfunctional families etc that are drawn to the recruiting office (not all but a significant proportion, my dc is armed forces but very different because they are an officer). If you are only in for a few years and haven't saved, nor gained qualifications then you could find yourself struggling to find a job, my dc has me to fall back on, not everyone does

Ps there are services to help them but they need to seek them out, not everyone wants to admit they have problem. Lack of education is an issue too (again not something an issue for us because has a degree and masters)

I didn't know they had such a big chunk of their finances managed for them in barracks. I can well imagine that a school leaver would really struggle upon leaving the forces years later, especially if a relationship breaks down.

Years ago I worked with many homeless ex-service personnel who had come into contact with the criminal justice system. They reported finding it hard to fit back into a civilian way of life. In the forces they were told what to do, when to do it, provided with bed and board and always tackled things in teams. They didn’t have to budget, didn’t have to deal with every day tasks. Once they left the forces and had to suddenly organise their own time and lives they lacked the necessary skills. Many had untreated mental health problems such as PTSD or were grief stricken or felt guilty when colleagues had died. Some self-medicated with drugs or alcohol which led to relationship breakdown. So via mental illness, drink/drugs and relationship breakdown many became homeless.

Well you won't be speaking to any homeless if Priti Patel has her way.
Her new law along with eradicating travellers also includes the homeless "unknown persons"
This is the new world, fuck the "unknown people".
All expected to vanish into thin air.
There is something people can do to stop this, but they aren't interested past the mess that some travellers leave.

It's awful that our service people are allowed to become homeless, but like everyone else if you don't meet the requirements for a council house you are homeless if no work.
Become homeless you have no address to be employable.

stucknoue is right. It's as much about the people who choose to join. One my dc is also in the armed forces, but he's educated and from a stable background, plus he has options for if/when he leaves. A lot of of people who join up don't have that. The army gives them stability for the time they serve, and once they leave their original problems can resurface, plus they may have new ones, such as PTSD. That statistic about the high numbers of homeless people who are ex-military or come from the 'care' system suggest the two are separate. In reality they are often the same people.

I can understand why you are angry, OP, it is an absolute scandal. The government (and to be honest, the general public) are happy to wrap themselves in the flag on Remembrance Sunday, but just as happy to turn a blind eye to the plight of former service personnel for the rest of the year.

Lots of serving personnel have quite a problematic relationship with alcohol (see the King's report) and that can rapidly deteriorate when their structured life ends.

Combine that with being young, single and in good physical health (meaning you're bottom of the list for housing priority) and it can go very wrong very quickly.

A lot of things, many mentioned by pps.

Sometimes the people who choose to join the forces don’t have lot of options. So whether that is having been int he care system, coming from a deprived community, coming from a dysfunctional family.

Then the forces are very institutionalising. A very regimented life with lots of routine and order. Which sometimes doesn’t equip people int he best way for life after service. Coming out of the forces into everyday life can be bewildering. Things that were taken care of automatically before suddenly become the person;s individual responsibility.

And the leaving the forces also sometimes means leaving a lot of friendships and support networks behind. People don’t always have those networks in civilian life- maybe the life they had before the forces never really contained those, maybe moving round a lot during service meant never really having the time/opportunity to build those up outside the force.

And that’s without things like PTSD, or physical injury or other health issues (physical or mental) caused during or exacerbated by service.

I also think that civilian life just is very different to frocesmlife. I shared a flat for a while with a pilot, who had previously been in the RAF for about twenty years. He was relatively unscathed, supportive had done a degree before serving, so he was well equipped in a lot of ways for everyday life (not least high earnings).

But his marriage broke up soon after he left the RAF. They’d gotten used to him being away a lot (she had stayed in UK to give kids a stable life) and they couldn’t adjust to living together all the time when he got back.
They had enough money to run two households, but I think a,lot of other forces couples wouldn’t. And relationship breakdown is a major cause of homelessness.

One night, after a rather wild night out I went on with him and his airline colleagues, he broke down in tears when we got back home.

He told me how much he missed his fellow flyboys. That he felt like they always had his back, that he could really trust them. That knowing that they were all prepared to die to protect one another had made him feel safe in a way he hadn’t felt before or since. That he belonged there, and that civilian life was so different- people squabbling and backbiting, never really knowing who you could trust.

In the air, it was clear cut for him who the good guys and the bad guys were. But everyday life was just a mess.

I don’t know if what he experienced was trauma bonding, or just simple, deep, straightforward camaraderie- you depend on others for your life as they depend on you for theirs, so there is no room or time for nonsense.

But he definitely missed it desperately. He looked for something to replace it in a lot of places- some good (loving relationships), some bad (alcohol and sex addictions). But I don’t think he ever found it. Closest he came when was when he had another child, but his relationship with the child’s mother had already broken down.