New White House suicide prevention plan for troops, vets emphasizes gun safety

They did implement this under President Obama and it did decrease Veteran suicides substantially. That never made the rounds enough though.

SrA Michele Burgman - Of course not. He wasn't a Republican

SrA John Monette , "taking guns away" is a hot button topic for veterans and service members. Very glad to hear that they're changing that narrative! We have seen the same at Stop Soldier Suicide. We are very deliberate in our crisis response planning to make it clear we're not taking their guns; we're just reframing their access to their guns and making reminders near their guns for what they have to live for.

CW3 Chuck Eastman - That's good to hear Chief. Veterans in crisis need to be reassured that they are not in any sort of trouble when they seek assistance. Putting out the message that their firearms will not be confiscated is a very important aspect of that. Organizations like yours have to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement and the medical community. Veterans in distress are very different from the "average" person in distress.

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter - That was my experience in 2012. I doubt much has changed. One young soldier with PTSD got royally screwed. After a day long therapy his unit wanted him to come to work. That was wrong, very wrong.

The MEB process was nebulous. The army had no initiative to give us an overview of the MEB process. That institutional knowledge ended when those who went through the MEB left the army. We can do a much better job helping people with PTSD.

I don’t think it’s any better. I am in the process of watching a good soldier who asked for help get sent to a Med board. SMSgt Lawrence McCarter

MAJ (Join to see) - It is not going to get better until we have expectations for people to get over PTSD. Right now it is the new cool kids club, society feels sorry for you, defense attorneys use it as a defense, and the government will pay you for the rest of your life, why get over from it? March of 2013 I took 3month old Nathan to the morgue, Chloe at 18 months was my first IO and intubation and she ended up the same place as Nathan. If you have never been to a morgue, it generally burns your eyes because of the chemicals used to preserve the dead. You know what saves me every time? My next patient and their families do not give two shits about Nathan or Chloe or my feelings, they expect the same A game I gave the others. I have a playlist with songs kryptonite by Three Doors Down, Superman by Five for Fighting, the Show Goes On by Bruce Hornsby, and I dig my self out of a hole so I can be ready for the next patient. Do you think I have PTSD from reading this, fuck yeah but the difference for many verses so many others is you and every other person that expected care from a military hospital expected me to get over it and make you feel like you are the only concern I have in the world. I had expectations upon me and so many do not. I still love taking care of people as much as I did when I graduated nursing school back in 2003 and I think much of that is the expectation of me to do my very best every time.

I am assuming people with PTSD want to get rid of it. It can be infinitely painful.