Posted on Feb 4, 2020
Air Force suicides reached record high in 2019
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Suicide
Airmen
Posted 5 y ago
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I believe it. In the past two weekends I have worked there have been a murder, a suicide attempt, and a suicidal ideation. Unfortunately in my current job we become so desensitized from this because of how often it happens. And oddly enough, it’s not just the younger ranks. It goes from E-1 up to officers. E-8s with families and no signs of anything going on commit suicide only to have their spouse or child find them. While E-3s who are feeling the pressure of doing the right thing backfire on them by their peers sit in their dorm room alone replaying their bad week. It’s truly the saddest thing that plagues our Air Force right now on the home front.
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How sad is this? All of the branches though are showing an increase in rates. And how can we help fix this?
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I will say it, and say it again. Those with PTSD must drop the reasons to die for reasons to live.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SSG Robert Mark Odom - That is true because nothing is inherently easy when PTSD is involved. However, I wish somebody would have told me that there was a better avenue of approach than the one I was using. I probably would have shifted my paradigm of PTSD sooner than later.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SSG Robert Mark Odom - I will inject some realism in the scenario. I thought it was much easier to die than to deal with the pain, but I concluded living for the family was a reason to continue fighting as the family would be sad and suicides often runs in families.
Those prevailing thoughts gave me the courage and inspiration to keep fighting despite the bleak world I was living in. I recall a very cold winter in Kansas. Everyday I went outside with my ax to fell smaller trees to open up the forest. It gave me a temporary respite from the pain of PTSD. I counted each chop of the ax. Sometimes I would count to 50 before a tree fell. Who told me to do that? Nobody, I did it on my own, but it was instrumental for my healing.
After 6 years of fighting, I am much better now. I rarely have anxiety, stress, racing thoughts, and depression which marred me. I feel like my wings are healing although I am not flying yet. I am medically retired and to be honest, I kind of feel like a man who did not accomplish the mission and is a has been. In the process I lost my passion for fishing and cooking. I can really and truly state cooking was a passion as I wrote a cookbook, although I never did make much money selling it.
I would like to mention one passion I have is to help veterans with PTSD. When my units conducted APFTs I yelled at the fast runners to join the slower runners to guide and motivate them to cross the finish line. I am no different. I use my experience to try to help those with PTSD to cross the finish line. I wrote a lengthy paper on PTSD to help people understand it, and provide reasonable coping skills. One lady replied she cried as she read the paper as it gave her clarity. Others have questioned their paradigms after reading the paper. For those who want the paper just message me. I ask nothing in return but perhaps you help others. It is quite endearing to give life back to a person, and I can think of no nobler endeavor for me to indulge myself in. We must continue to strive to win and find the peace that we all seek.
Those prevailing thoughts gave me the courage and inspiration to keep fighting despite the bleak world I was living in. I recall a very cold winter in Kansas. Everyday I went outside with my ax to fell smaller trees to open up the forest. It gave me a temporary respite from the pain of PTSD. I counted each chop of the ax. Sometimes I would count to 50 before a tree fell. Who told me to do that? Nobody, I did it on my own, but it was instrumental for my healing.
After 6 years of fighting, I am much better now. I rarely have anxiety, stress, racing thoughts, and depression which marred me. I feel like my wings are healing although I am not flying yet. I am medically retired and to be honest, I kind of feel like a man who did not accomplish the mission and is a has been. In the process I lost my passion for fishing and cooking. I can really and truly state cooking was a passion as I wrote a cookbook, although I never did make much money selling it.
I would like to mention one passion I have is to help veterans with PTSD. When my units conducted APFTs I yelled at the fast runners to join the slower runners to guide and motivate them to cross the finish line. I am no different. I use my experience to try to help those with PTSD to cross the finish line. I wrote a lengthy paper on PTSD to help people understand it, and provide reasonable coping skills. One lady replied she cried as she read the paper as it gave her clarity. Others have questioned their paradigms after reading the paper. For those who want the paper just message me. I ask nothing in return but perhaps you help others. It is quite endearing to give life back to a person, and I can think of no nobler endeavor for me to indulge myself in. We must continue to strive to win and find the peace that we all seek.
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