Suicide is something all too familiar (click here) for our military veterans with reports from the Department of Veteran Affairs that 22 veterans commit suicide per day. However one Delaware group, Operation Yellow Spear, is trying to help curb that number by spreading awareness and offering coping strategies for dealing with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Pvt. Richard Pope knows first-hand how PTSD can affect not only veterans, but also their family members. Pope said his father, a marine, dealt with it as Pope was growing up....
...Saturday the group held a Veteran Suicide Awareness Rally at Laurel Wesleyan Church in Laurel, Del. The awareness is vital, because many veterans and their family members are unsure on how to address the topic of PTSD.
"We're trained that way, we're trained to be strong, be the tough guy, never let your guard down and that's the problem that we have, and it's soldiers, it's sailors, it's all of us," said retired 1st Sgt. Allen Mansfield, who served in the National Guard.
The group said that veterans can do things such as joining a community group, finding a hobby and just talking to others in general about their experiences to help them cope. If need be, the group will even act as vehicle to get veterans that help....
A panel on Suicide Prevention was conducted by Senator Joe Donnelly. They want to add additional layer of prevention in an annual mental health review as part of the benefits to the veteran and his family.
Some veterans are yet to be diagnosed, but, are at risk to developing PTSD.
Another identified problem is the transition from Tri-Care to VA benefits. When a soldier leaves active duty and enters VA benefits their medical regime is not maintained. The VA begins the assessment process all over again and often changes the medications because of a different medication formulary.
November 20, 2015
Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) (click here) and mental health advocates talked about suicide prevention efforts targeting veterans and members of the military. They focused on the need to boost federal support for suicide prevention efforts, particularly for recently deployed soldiers and reservists.
The military suicide rate exceeded the civilian suicide rate from 2009 forward.
Fort Carson has the highest suicide rate and highest homicide rate. The article below is from "Rolling Stone."
November 12, 2009
By L. Christopher Smith
Soldiers returning from Iraq (click here) have been charged in at least 11 murders at America's third-largest Army base. Did the military's own negligence contribute to the slayings?
The troops are substituting alcohol for mental health. Mental health deterioration begins while serving.
It was just after closing time on Saturday night when the four soldiers staggered out of the Rum Bay nightclub ("Southern Colorado's largest supply of rum!"), piled into a gray Audi A4 and lit a blunt. Since they had returned from fighting in Iraq, where they had seen some of the bloodiest action of the war, nights like this had become common. There are more than 50 bars in downtown Colorado Springs, and on some nights thousands of people, many of them troops from nearby Fort Carson, pour out onto the streets after last call, looking for trouble. Rum Bay was one of the worst dives in town: Infamous for brawls involving drunken soldiers, locals called it "Fight Club." That night, the bar offered a special dispensed by shooter girls in denim cutoffs, who carried trays filled with test tubes of vodka mixed with apple schnapps. "We drank an ungodly amount," one of the men, Kenneth Eastridge, later recalled. "Like, hundreds of shots."...
The problem doesn't necessarily stop with youth and addiction, but, can extend into the full length of a life.
May 6, 2013
By Dale Archer, MD
Suicide, (click here) once thought to be associated with troubled teens and the elderly, is quickly becoming an age-blind statistic. Middle aged Americans are turning to suicide in alarming numbers. The reasons include easily accessible prescription painkillers (link is external), the mortgage crisis and most importantly the challenge of a troubled economy. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (link is external) claims suicide rates now top the number of deaths due to automobile accidents.
The suicide rate for both younger and older Americans remains virtually unchanged, however, the rate has spiked for those in middle age (35 to 64 years old) with a 28 percent increase from 1999 to 2010. The rate for whites in middle-age jumped an alarming 40 percent during the same time frame. According to the CDC, there were more than 38,000 suicides in 2010 making it the tenth leading cause of death in America overall (third leading cause from age 15-24)....
