Source: Business Insider

By Mark Abadi

It’s all too common for veterans in the US to wind up in jail.

And behind bars, many of them don’t have access to the services they need to get their lives back on track.

That’s what the participants on the A&E documentary series “60 Days In” learned during their stay at Clark County Jail in southern Indiana.

The show follows seven people who goundercover as inmates for two months to expose problems within the system.

One of the participants, Zac, estimated that 10% of the inmates he lived with were veterans, all of whom suffered from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Like many drug-addicted inmates, they often resorted to homemade drugs to self-medicate.

He said that most inmates weren’t aware the jail offered veterans advocacy services and an Alcoholics Anonymous support group — and that jail employees rarely advertised the fact that such programs existed.

“Regardless of whether or not they’re in jail, they still took the same oath that they would protect the country with their life,” Zac told Business Insider. “They still deserve to be treated for issues they developed because of that oath they took.”

Veterans in jail are more likely to suffer from mental-health issues than other inmates, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Veterans are much more likely than civilians to commit suicide.

Zac himself is a veteran, having served as a combat engineer with the Marines in Afghanistan.

When he returned home from deployment in 2010, he said, he refused to talk about his experience with friends and family. For a few months he found comfort in alcohol, consuming more than $1,500 worth a month.

Read more