The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has announced an initiative to provide specialized addiction recovery resources for veterans through the Connections recovery app.

NCDHHS made the Connections app available to North Carolina residents for free last year. The app, developed by digital health solutions company CHESS Health, provides 24/7 services for people experiencing addiction and those in recovery. Users can access peer support, recovery tracking, videos, worksheets and more.

Any North Carolina resident can sign up to download the Connections app by filling out the self sign-up form. Once the form is submitted, participants will receive a text with a link to download the app.

“Having easy, free access to connect with those that can support you in those moments of need I think is really, really important,” CHESS Health Marketing Manager Scott Kelleysaid.

Kelley said Connections has previously had resources for veterans, such as designated veteran communities and meetings for anyone overcoming trauma. CHESS Health is now expanding the app’s library to include more articles, videos and worksheets tailored to veterans.

CHESS Health is also hosting a training session for health providers and veteran groups through the app. The provider training has been approved by the National Association for Addiction Professionals and will be offered on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. The veteran group sessions will take place on Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., facilitated by veteran and consultant Garret Biss.

Biss said his approach is to guide veterans in leveraging their strengths rather than finding their weaknesses. The new app interventions are focused on helping people who have gone through a traumatic transition reconnect with and recognize their worth, he said.

Of veterans who visit a Department of Veterans Affairs facility for the first time, nearly 11 percent meet the criteria of a substance use disorder, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Biss said veterans require a fundamentally different approach to recovery because their path to substance use is different. While post-traumatic stress disorder or addiction in some veterans is tied to a specific traumatic event, most veterans experience mental health challenges that cannot be linked to one event, he said.

“We need to have a conversation about why that is,” Biss said. “The better that we can understand somebody’s journeys into the depths of the darkness that they face, then the better that we can show up and support them in that journey forward.”

NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services Director Kelly Crosbiesaid veteran mental health is often stigmatized, so it is difficult for veterans to get help. She said the Connections app’s anonymity and peer support resources make it easier for veterans to access help without feeling ashamed.

“Those are veterans on the app supporting other veterans,” Crosbie said. “There are people who actually know what it feels like to be in their shoes. They know what the shame and stigma feels like.”

Another NCDHHS initiative is Ask Me NC, which encourages health providers and other service workers to ask clients if they or a family member have served in the military. Crosbie said this initiative is meant to reduce stigma and get people into the services they need.

Alexandra Giacona is an expressive art therapist at UNC’s Transforming Health and Resilience in Veterans program. She said it is important to normalize the idea that military careers pose more dangers, challenges and traumatic situations than others.

“Once people leave the military, needing support, needing people to talk to, needing treatment — whether it be physical, mental, emotional treatment — is pretty common,” Giacona said.

Biss said the NCDHHS’ initiative is a beautiful thing to him as a veteran who has struggled with mental health challenges.

“I know there’s a lot of other veterans that are suffering in the darkness,” Biss said. “This is just a small way that we can begin to shift that tide and change the conversation and support veterans in a new and a better way.”

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