Substance Abuse and Mental Health Awareness in Veterans Scholarship

This year’s essay topic is: “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Awareness in Veterans”. We are looking for essays that describe some of the mental health and substance abuse issues that today’s veterans may suffer from. Specifically, we are looking for submissions that share our passion for spreading awareness about drug and alcohol addiction and the effects it can have on our veterans and their lives.

Perhaps you are a veteran who has struggled with substance abuse in the past, or maybe you have seen fellow veterans suffer from mental disorders or substance abuse without receiving the support they need. Whatever draws you to our scholarship, we welcome you the the experiences and knowledge you have to share. We encourage you to enter your essay into our scholarship and share your story so others may have the chance to learn from it.

This scholarship is open to all veterans and active duty military personnel as well as their family members, and it is not necessary that you have a history or experience with substance abuse to enter the scholarship. We are open to hearing anyone’s views and opinions related to:

Essays should be original and your thoughts should be clearly stated. Submissions should not exceed 1,200 words. We will choose the winner based on degree of originality, personal style, thoughtfulness, and originality. Judges of the essays will be looking for submissions that are clear and concise, with good structure and logical arguments.

Substance abuse is a growing problem among veterans in the United States. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is often associated with substance abuse, especially when it is left untreated. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2 in 10 veterans suffering from PTSD also struggles with a drug or alcohol addiction.

It is an issue that can often leave veterans financially struggling, having difficulty connecting with family and friends, getting back to a civilian life, and in some cases, it can be a cause of suicide. Substance abuse is also one of the top causes of homelessness in veterans.

We have known these statistics for decades, yet the issue continues to worsen. Fortunately the link between mental health and substance abuse has been made clear in the past decade, allowing more awareness than ever to be brought to the topic. Despite the newfound awareness this information has brought to light, drug and alcohol addiction continues to claim the lives of our veterans every day.

It is simple to enter the scholarship contest:

• Be sure to review the eligibility requirements to make sure you are able to enter.
• Check out our rules and regulations below.
• Download and fill out our scholarship application page (below)
• Submit your essay with the completed scholarship application to [email protected]
  

Eligible to enter are:

• Any  Veteran or Direct Family member of a Veteran that is an undergraduate student,  graduate student, or soon to be enrolled in a post-secondary institution in the U.S.
• Direct Family Includes: Someone’s spouse, parents and grandparents, children and grand children, brothers and sisters, mother in law and father in law, brothers in law and sisters in law, daughters in law and sons in law. Adopted, half, and step members are also included in immediate family.
• Must be 18 years at the time of scholarship entry

Not eligible to enter:

• Employees, owners, or immediate family members affiliated with DrugRehab.org
• Non-military personnel

• All written work must be completely original. Any plagiarized entries will be disqualified from the scholarship. To learn more about plagiarism, click here.
• Once a winner has been selected, that decision is final unless an entrant is disqualified.
• No entrant may contact the judges of this scholarship at any time.
• Winner of the scholarship grants DrugRehab.org the right to use their essay and its content in marketing efforts of the scholarship, publication, and any other connection with this contest. This includes the right to use the winner’s name and/or certain personal information to promote the scholarship, with the exception of any illegal misuse.
• Any submission received after the application deadline will not be considered.
• Any submission that does not meet the criteria required for eligibility will not be considered.
• Essay award winners grant DrugRehab.org the right to use their essay content in.
• Any prize won from the scholarship can be revoked if the submission was discovered to break any of the rules, or if the entrant was discovered to be ineligible.
• DrugRehab.org reserves the right to move up the submission deadline to an earlier deadline if the number of scholarship submissions greatly exceed the number projected. It is recommended to enter your submission as early as possible.
• Any changes made by DrugRehab.org to the rules or regulations of this scholarship will be promptly sent to current entrants via email. If these changes are dissatisfactory to any entrants, they may retract their submission.
• Scholarship winner is responsible for any federal, state, and local charges or taxes on prize.
• Any submission for this scholarship will become the property of DrugRehab.org and they may use the content for distribution, reproduction, and use as deemed necessary.