Share your history

Each research track has its own screener, matched to what actually happened

Pick the one that fits it's fine if more than one applies to you. And a completed screener, on its own, is real, complete participation you never have to go further than that to matter to this work. More screeners coming soon.

Not sure which one fits, or don't want to decide right now? That's okay you don't have to figure it out alone. Contact us directly and tell us what happened in your own words. We'll help you find the right starting point, or point you to more than one if that's what fits.

Case 002

Mental health / SUD

Psychiatric diagnoses, treatment history, and substance use — including whether a physical cause was ever fully ruled out before a psychiatric one was assigned.

Screener in development

Case 001

Neurotrauma / TBI

Brain injury, spinal cord injury, blast exposure, and how the injury and its downstream effects were (or weren't) documented and treated.

Open this screener

Case 003

Toxic / environmental exposure

Burn pits, jet fuels, solvents, heavy metals, and other occupational exposures, and how they were screened for and documented.

Screener in development

Case 004

VA/DoD benefits ecosystem

Your experience with the claims and benefits process itself, and with anyone who helped (or was supposed to help) you file.

Screener in development

Case 005

Military sexual trauma (MST)

How an MST-related experience was screened for, documented, and connected to the care that followed, or didn't.

Screener in development

Every screener is a pattern-identification tool, not a medical, legal, or VA/DoD claim of any kind. None of them ask for your full legal name, home address, Social Security number, VA claim number, or medical record number. See how we handle your information for the full picture. If this is a medical emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

Volunteer with us

Real, specific roles not a general "help out" sign-up

All of our current work runs on volunteer hours. Here are the roles we actually need filled right now.

On-the-ground operational advocacy support

In-person support for people navigating operational, policy, and workflow advocacy who can't easily advocate for themselves, or whose caregiver is already overloaded and needs help getting their person the care they need. This is one of our most-needed, currently-missing support roles.

General research support

Help with historical research, source verification, and build out of our free public research library.

Evidence & historical research

Help validate and locate historical research we already have partial threads on, and help map the timeline connecting past institutional decisions to what we're documenting today.

Contact us to volunteer for any of these tell us which one fits, or ask if you're not sure.

Support the work

We don't charge the people we serve. Here's how this actually gets funded.

Grants, outside donors, and merchandise sales. We're open to partnerships with other organizations for merchandise fundraisers t-shirts and similar collaborations. If that's something your organization might want to do together, reach out.

More info coming September 2026

A mutual-aid and research organization correcting the root cause of institutional harm.

Behind The 22 is a mutual-aid and research organization. Nothing on this site is medical advice, legal advice, or a VA/DoD claim of any kind, and no information here should be used as a substitute for consulting a qualified medical or legal professional about your own situation. Case information we collect is handled under a written consent protocol and is used, in de-identified and aggregated form, to identify recurring patterns never to authorize us to contact any agency, provider, or third party on a person's behalf without separate, explicit permission.

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