I was in the SATT (substance abuse treatment team) at the VA clinic in Lake City, Florida on an off for ten years. They are teaching DBT for substance abuse and mental health problems like depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, etc. They also use it to help people with chronic pain who have pain killer addiction problems. It is good for life in general. When I am emotionally the most stable I am using the techniques unconsciously.

I agree with the poster who says that it needs to be taught in elementary, middle and high school! We need to help people have good quality of life and to do this we need the public school systems to teach these things.

In my case I was totally isolated in Lake City. The only way I got someone to talk to was to go to the bar. I stayed in treatment in the SATT program just to have human contact. The military and spy agencies use isolation to break down prisoners minds for interrogation purposes. Departments of Corrections use isolation to punish unruly prisoners. I ask the staff to help me get some type of volunteer work or a menial labor job (I have college degrees.) to keep me busy and I could have quit drinking easily. Things like this should be "bread and butter" for social workers! They had a work-therapy program but the guy who ran it was political and not a mental health professional. That program would have stabilized me and got me back to work. Social workers or mental health professionals should run the work therapy programs at the VA!

That VA could not do one simple thing to help a honorably discharged veteran with two college degrees.

Because by basic human needs were not being met DBT would not work long term for me.