How Have You Struggled?

Simple in concept..hard to execute: Find out why/motivation behind suicides and then move to eliminate the reasons. Whatever you are doing now, ain't working! and stop medicating when meds don't work except to make you all feel good.

It's easy to say the VA cares, but that means nothing without actually following up with any sort of reliability...

"Benefits at Discharge?" Nope, months afterwards still sitting with an ambiguous status that provides no expectation of timeline.
Submit feedback on the process? Nope, "We can't collect your feedback at the moment."

Struggling to make your mortgage payment? Don't worry the VA sent a letter saying they could help if I'm struggling. Oh wait, nope, the VA can't help, it has to go through the lender, but the lender can't do anything about it because it's a VA Loan...

Nothing like demoralizing recently transitioned service members to help prevent veteran suicide... The VA Cares... about looking like they care...

A couple of issues about the VA.
Sever ptsd actually makes changes within the brain which are more or less permanent. Talking with a counselor will not help. And the VA hasn't to my knowledge ever admitted this fact.
Second issue is the suicide rate of Veterans that the Veterans Administration publishes is and always has been about 20 to 22 suicides a day when in actuality it is over 40 suicides a day.
Can the VA be considered credible? Not in my book.
In total I have 140% in verified disability claims but it took me 40 years to get them to acknowledge this fact.
The ptsd is as if it just happened yesterday. It's always been fresh in my mind and evokes the same fear, anger and hate as the day it began in Phu Bai.
Plans are always in the back of this mind, just haven't acted on them yet.

It's a daily effort. An effort to get out of bed, when you didn't sleep, anyway. It's an effort to socialize. A real effort. Yep. I've been to the edge of the black hole more than once. What has pulled be back from the edge? Well, counseling, certainly. My first counselor was great. But she moved. The one I have now is really good, also. Originally, and you can laugh at this point all you like, was God introducing me to a woman who is indescribably wonderful. For the first two years, all she did was listen, as everything poured out. Well, all but the MST, and that took forever. Some things just continue to destroy you--and anyone you could possibly talk to would NOT understand how the guiltless are the ones who are destroyed. (Took me a very long time, but one day I said those simple words, "It's not my fault.") Group therapy? Nope. Can't be in a room full of people.
Personally, I've made some progress in getting myself out of the house. Small rooms with lots of doors. Everyone knows what that means. So, I would simply say one-on-one counseling has been a huge help, because when I stumble, there is someone there who understands--besides my gift from God.

It's a daily effort. An effort to get out of bed, when you didn't sleep, anyway. It's an effort to socialize. A real effort. Yep. I've been to the edge of the black hole more than once. What has pulled be back from the edge? Well, counseling, certainly. My first counselor was great. But she moved. The one I have now is really good, also. Originally, and you can laugh at this point all you like, was God introducing me to a woman who is indescribably wonderful. For the first two years, all she did was listen, as everything poured out. Well, all but the MST, and that took forever. Some things just continue to destroy you--and anyone you could possibly talk to would NOT understand how the guiltless are the ones who are destroyed. (Took me a very long time, but one day I said those simple words, "It's not my fault.") Group therapy? Nope. Can't be in a room full of people.
Personally, I've made some progress in getting myself out of the house. Small rooms with lots of doors. Everyone knows what that means. So, I would simply say one-on-one counseling has been a huge help, because when I stumble, there is someone there who understands--besides my gift from God.

For starters stop making veterans wait months between appointments. We need the help and it feels like at times the VA cares more about saving a dollar then the well being of the veterans it’s supposed to serve

What works for me honestly? Having other warriors trust my ears to their traumatic past and present trials. I sometimes get caught up in your heartfelt and sometimes heroic experiences that I forget about my own for a moment...a moment to take a deep breath and thank GOD we are all still here to talk and share on forums like this. We all understand, we all care, we want you all to stay with us...PLEASE?

If the VA and other agencies actually cared about preventing suicides or helping Veterans they would display an attitude of caring, not one of callousness and rudeness. It seems there is more concern about "celebrating" this or that minority group. How about "celebrating" by providing quality care or hiring people to reduce wait times? How about hiring quality providers for Behavioral Health? The last time I spoke with someone from BH she was an hour late for our "phone visit" and spent the remaining appointment time explaining it wasn't her fault because I had fallen through the cracks! Obviously it wasn't important enough to her or the so-called support staff to prevent this sort of failure. Sure, I complained, but either it fell on deaf ears or the VA simply doesn't care.

Getting involved in a church really helped me a lot. I get that a lot of people don’t want to believe, are mad at God, etc. I got it sorted out and life really turned around for the better. I also shook off the negative folks and set strict boundaries for who can be in my life.

I have survived my own suicide attempts. It has been 4 years now and counting. The things that keep me from attempting again have included cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness training. The most important has been forming connections with my neighbors and with my community. That was tough but I decided it was worth trying. The VA should facilitate those connections. Not just providing a list of community organizations, for example, but actually engaging with the veteran to make the contact and to follow through. In my case, I serve other veterans by teaching guitar online to them. Feeling valued is very helpful in keeping me alive.