[Vision2020] VA Urged to Focus on Suicide Prevention

[Tom Hansen]

>From the October 23, 2006 edition of the Army Times -

"'Some estimates have found that almost 1,000 veterans receiving care from
the Department of Veterans Affairs commit suicide each year, and research
shows that one out of 100 veterans who have returned from Iraq have
considered suicide,' Boswell said. 'I find this number disturbing.'"

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VA urged to focus on suicide prevention
Lawmakers propose 24-hour hotline, extended free care

By Gayle S. Putrich and Rick Maze
Army Times Staff writers

While the mental wounds of war take their toll on returning troops, driving
an increasing number to suicide, members of Congress and agency officials
continue to differ over what should be done about post-deployment mental
health.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials say that, according to national
statistics, about one-fourth of all suicides in the U.S. are veterans.

"These are very, very sad numbers that . really represent a profound wake-up
call that we had better focus on suicide prevention as a key activity of the
VA," said Dr. Ira Katz, VA's mental health services director.

"Obviously, there is a connection between post-traumatic stress disorder and
suicide," said Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, who said 80 Iraq or Afghanistan
war veterans have committed suicide since March 2003.

"Some estimates have found that almost 1,000 veterans receiving care from
the Department of Veterans Affairs commit suicide each year, and research
shows that one out of 100 veterans who have returned from Iraq have
considered suicide," Boswell said. "I find this number disturbing."

Boswell is sponsoring what he calls the "Joshua Omvig Veterans' Suicide
Prevention Act," named for a 22-year-old Army specialist and Iraq war
veteran who shot himself at his home in Iowa late last year after refusing
to seek counseling. His family told The Des Moines Register that Omvig was
worried about what his superiors would think if he asked for help.

Boswell's bill would require the creation of a 24-hour hotline for at-risk
veterans, plus improvements in counseling and research.

Other lawmakers have other ideas. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, the ranking
member of the House subcommittee that oversees veterans' health issues,
requested in September that the VA inspector general investigate staff
training and the screening and tracking of at-risk vets.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, wants more screening for mental health problems. He
introduced a bill Sept. 28 that would order more personnel and money for
VA's post-traumatic stress disorder programs, and new training for VA
staffers to help them with early detection of PTSD in veterans. His bill, S
3984, was referred to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of that committee, proposes to extend
from two years to five years the period in which discharged veterans of the
wars in Iraq or Afghanistan can get VA health care without having to prove a
service-connected health problem.

Obama said two years may not be enough time for mental health problems to
surface. "It can take years for symptoms of PTSD to manifest themselves," he
said.

To be sure, a variety of suicide prevention programs are in place at VA, and
billions of dollars are spent every year on mental health services. Emphasis
is put on monitoring high-risk cases and the reduction or eventual
elimination of symptoms for those diagnosed with mental illnesses.

But "there's a debate in the suicide prevention field as to whether issues
are primary in the clinic or in the community," Katz said. "Should one take
a clinical approach . or the public health approach, reaching out into the
community?" 

VA seeks a middle ground, developing outreach programs to make vets and
their families aware of mental health services while also trying to further
integrate suicide prevention and mental health services into basic clinical
care efforts.

VA spent about $2.8 billion on mental health programs in fiscal 2006, Katz
said, and the budget for this fiscal year is expected to top $3 billion, he
said.

But as spending goes up, so does the number of troops in the field, the
number of vets coming home - and the suicide rate.

>From 2004 to 2005, the Army saw a jump in suicides from 64 to 85. However,
Pentagon health officials note that the Army's overall suicide rate of 12.74
per 100,000 people is still lower than the 13.13-per-100,000 rate in the
general U.S. population.

Army Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon
general, told the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on Sept. 28 that the
Army has begun keeping records of suicides and serious suicide attempts,
requiring a behavioral health care provider to fill out a report. The data
will be used to compare quarterly trends.

Each of the services has developed its own suicide prevention methods. The
Air Force's programs have been the most lauded, and many of its
methodologies were adopted by the Navy in 2005.

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And such are these casualties, valued veterans each and every one, that
people tend to ignore.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Vandalville, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.