New Veterans Support Group in Colorado Springs aims to help active duty and retired service members’ mental health

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Next Tuesday begins the weekly meetings for the new Veterans Support Group that will help active duty and retired service members ‘living with mood disorders’.

These ‘free, peer-led’ support meetings are organized by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) and will be hosted at the Hillside Community Center in Colorado Springs. Registration is not required for attendance.

“We try to provide a space to ensure we’re meeting the needs of the citizens in our community,” Josh Gainey, Park Operations Administrator for Hillside Community Center said. “And obviously, mental health for veterans is very important to us.”

A local Coast Guard veteran who’s been attending DBSA support groups for over 20 years said there’s a ‘real need’ for veteran support, as suicide rates are at large.

“In the military, fortunately, or unfortunately, you learn how to use weapons,” Tom Noonan, a local Coat Guard veteran, said. “And so not only do you have the issue of mental health, but you have the knowledge to carry out a suicide.”

Noonan said there are challenging hurdles and obstacles veterans face when leaving service.

“Along with employment, you know, financial challenges, physical challenges, and sometimes the physical challenges can, you know, feed into the mental health,” Noonan said. “If you’re in constant pain and or something along those lines, that can create a lot of depression.”

After Noonan started attending these support groups, he said he kept coming back. These confidential meetings give veterans a safe space to learn from one another and help each other through talking or just listening... it also gives them resources they might’ve been unaware of within the community.

“This might be the first step for some veterans to get out and go someplace where they’re not familiar with people and make some connections,” Noonan said. “That they’ll you know, get out, do more things, and also learn about other activities in the community that they can become engaged with.”

Noonan said he heard a lot about veterans with PTSD, and bipolar and depression can go hand in hand with it. Overall, he’s seen the stigma around mental health reduce since he was first diagnosed.

“I was diagnosed in 87,” Noonan said. “There’s a lot more treatments and approaches to mental health now. And although it still remains, you know, some stigma, it’s been drastically reduced from when I was originally diagnosed.”

Noonan hopes these Veteran Support Groups can help reduce the stigma associated with the struggles veterans go through as well.

Click here for more information on the Veteran Support Group meeting details.

If you or someone you know is struggling, there is help and care available, click here to get access to the Suicide Prevention Hotline (988).

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