Is enough being done to stop/prevent suicide with Servicemembers and Veterans?

I think it's obvious that we're not doing enough. Just look at the escalating rates of suicide. The real question is what can we do about it? Just as obvious to me is the fact that whatever has to be done will cost and probably cost a lot. Sadly, there's the rub. Taking care of our service men and women, both active duty and veterans, isn't a popular with politicians. They're more likely to produce results (votes for themselves) funding entitlement programs and investing in failed business ventures to repay their donors (it's called "crony capitalism"). Thus, while it is useful to address the issues causing the incidence of suicide and researching potential cures, we must also work on funding for it.

Just a thought here, but we'll have an opportunity to send a message to Washington in a few weeks. Let's make sure we vote well...

Regardless of the education and awareness, it takes a lot of individual work and effort of those who work with, like or love an individual enough to see the signs. My 16 year old 2nd cousin had a college scholarship to Auburn University, his own business (horses and renting them), several horses and a myriad of friends when he pulled the trigger on the pistol in 2011. It was my last day in Afghanistan when I found out. Soldiers have done the same thing. There were Facebook posts that eluded to the premonition. As with any addiction, suicide is the same, there are clear and concise signs that folks can see IF they pay attention. Can rehabilitation and HELP actually work? I believe they can IF the individual gets the help they need, not the type of help that is of the enabling kind, but the real kind.

The thing is, no matter how much training and awareness WE get, you always want to tell yourself that so and so is NOT having those problems and we tend to deny that we see what we actually see. I do not know how to fix it, will never admit to knowing how, but I have been on the end of a phone line more then once starting back about 14 years ago and that person is still alive today. I have had more since then, I am not a counselor, a pastor or anything else but a friend to those who sought to ask for help. At the time they all reached out, it was not immediate that they said they were considering it, it was post conversation and later.

TIME is the most valuable asset on the planet, if you give folks some who seek it, listen and be there for them, they may turn the corner and feel the value that life has and not do the wrong thing.

Our programs and the ACE are good guidance, but the key is opening the eyes and ears and staying aware to our surroundings that will ultimately help.

my .02

SPC(P) (Join to see) This is a great question. I am sad to say, that as a military health care provider, no enough is not being done. We are still failing to properly take care of our service members mental health. I know mental health is difficult because we can not physically see what is going on, and we are still dealing with the stigma of mental health issues. I feel that it has gotten better, but we still have along way to go.

CPL Danielle Johnson _ First very good take on this because I would like more follow-up and I know that we all must do our parts. Some contend they have done their parts already but that is wrong-headed. After all, in the community we know of people who are hurting and there are ways to help them.

And also many times it is outside the chain-of-command or even the VA. The VA is overwhelmed and that is where we step in. We literally have 1,000s whose backs are turned upon and then what?

One example might be a person with a DUI/DWI or some other consideration but these are our brothers and sisters, so we find them a way to get back and forth to work. Whatever it takes and sometimes it is the small things that really do matter.

Thanks for your time and for bringing this up.
Respectfully
Larry

Suicide awareness and prevention will always be a 10m target for our Army and our military. The best thing that we can do as leaders is to know our Soldiers and be able to identify when something appears to be out of place. We need to have the courage to ask the question to our Soldiers...are you thinking about suicide? This is one scenario where Monday Morning Quarterbacking or hindsight being 20/20 is not accepted. It is tough and sometimes you do not pick up on the signs; maybe there weren't any. We just have to remain proactive.

I had a friend take his life a little over a week ago. We went to BNCOC together and kept in touch over the internet for the better part of the past 14 years. Our professional paths never crossed again. He would come up on the net every once in a while and we would chat. He came back from his last deployment into marital problems and alcohol issues. We talked a little. He was receiving counseling and assistance. He was going through a MEB and apparently thought that the pain was too much and he took his own life. I feel for his family and for those who were stationed with him at the end. I can say that "I wish that I had" all I want, but we talked so infrequently that to identify something that was amiss would be next to impossible.

Stay vigilant with your Soldiers. Watch them. Know them. Ask them.

So with the recent suicide at Fort Lee, I'm guessing that enough is not being done. Were the warning signs not there? Does this fall back on leadership? A lot of unanswered questions. Hopefully more comes out about what happened and why.

It isn't an NCO or an officer issue, or even an enlisted issue...it's a human issue. It effects all of us, in uniform or out. As a result, I think it will take ALL OF US. You need an ear, I am here.

I think a major problem is the stigma that soldiers think that they will be viewed as weak or inferior because they have suicidal thoughts. Some times it's hard to see the signs in garrison because at the end of the day everyone goes there own way.

Vets-Help has been working hard with the concept of Moral Injury, and we will be bringing information out soon that will help many folks in distress now - from those who know quite a bit about it.

Stand by...

Unfortunately no. The answer almost all the time with this and SHARP (the two big issues in the military night now) is generally no. There is always going to be someone who does not take the training seriously, there will always be the person who just speaks at you and not engage the "class", and there are always those people who either just don't want to listen or simply do not care.

I rely on my Soldiers as much as I do on my NCOs and officers to notify me immediately if they feel that someone is "off" and not themselves so we can sit them down and see if there is an issue. Unfortunately I am only one person and as much as I try to be engaged with all of my Soldiers everytime that I see them I cannot. Also, as a reserve unit is hard to track what is normal behavior and what is different when you are not engaged on a daily basis like my active component counterparts. Once again it comes back to relying on everyone in the unit to develop a bond and have that bond so close that if someone is thinking of harming themselves or others that they feel comfortable enough to reach out to someone, anyone and ask for help.

My chaplain can tell you I keep him busy and I think he gets nervous if I am not talking to him at least once a week (during very slow times). I sometimes talk to him several times a day with issues. And that is where the leadership (and I mean everyone is a leader and can call ceasefire type of leadership) need to be engaging and throw up flags as soon as they sense something. Better to react and not be needed than to hesitate and regret for the rest of your life.