[Vision2020] 18 Veterans Commit Suicide Each Day!

[keely emerinemix]

Even one vet committing suicide is too many -- but 18 souls a day?  That's a tragedy beyond what most of us can comprehend.

Because I have no military, much less combat, experience, I don't have the understanding others have of what makes suicide so prevalent among the troops who return home.  I'm assuming most of those who turn to suicide were recent combat veterans, and I'm going to assume that virtually none of them received the amount of high-quality, pro-active, sensitive and effective care -- medical, psychological, social and spiritual -- they should have had available to them upon their return.  As a country, we seem eager to ship 'em out, but we don't seem to know, or care, about what happens to them when they get home.  

My heart goes out to all returning vets and their families, particularly those who have experienced first-hand the horror of suicide.  Those of us against the war in Iraq may hate that any American was ever sent to fight for a lie, but we cannot turn our backs on men and women who did go once they return.  Of course, a nation that spends more on war and aggression than on care and prevention -- in issues of health as well as defense -- reaps what it sows.  It's a shame that families have to bear the burden.

Keely
www.keely-prevailingwinds.com




> Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:45:43 -0700
> From: thansen at moscow.com
> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: [Vision2020] 18 Veterans Commit Suicide Each Day!
> 
> This is addressed to those of you who actually give a damn:
> 
> Remember that article I posted a week ago concerning a young veteran that
> committed suicide on the steps of the Dayton, Ohio VA center?
> 
> http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/2010-April/069781.html
> 
> Apparently Jesse Huff's suicide is merely the tip of a very deadly iceberg
> . . .
> 
> Courtesy of the Army Times . . .
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 18 veterans commit suicide each day
> 
> By Rick Maze - Staff writer
> Posted : Thursday Apr 22, 2010 15:40:18 EDT
> 
> Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each
> month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the
> Veterans Affairs Department.
> 
> Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who
> don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.
> 
> The numbers, which come at a time when VA is strengthening its suicide
> prevention programs, show about 18 veteran suicides a day, about five by
> veterans who are receiving VA care.
> 
> Access to care appears to be a key factor, officials said, noting that
> once a veteran is inside the VA care program, screening programs are in
> place to identify those with problems, and special efforts are made to
> track those considered at high risk, such as monitoring whether they are
> keeping appointments.
> 
> A key part of the new data shows the suicide rate is lower for veterans
> aged 18 to 29 who are using VA health care services than those who are
> not. That leads VA officials to believe that about 250 lives have been
> saved each year as a result of VA treatment.
> 
> VA’s suicide hotline has been receiving about 10,000 calls a month from
> current and former service members. The number is 1-800-273-8255. Service
> members and veterans should push 1 for veterans’ services.
> 
> Dr. Janet Kemp, VA’s national suicide prevention coordinator, credits the
> hotline with rescuing 7,000 veterans who were in the act of suicide — in
> addition to referrals, counseling and other help.
> 
> Suicide attempts by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans remains a key area of
> concern. In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, there were 1,621 suicide
> attempts by men and 247 by women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, with
> 94 men and four women dying.
> 
> In general, VA officials said, women attempt suicide more often, but men
> are more likely to succeed in the attempt, mainly because women use less
> lethal and less violent means while men are more likely to use firearms.
> 
> Suicide attempts among veterans appear to follow those trends, officials
> said.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> If this posting gives you reason to stop and thing , , , even for a minute
> . . . at least it accomplished something.
> 
> Pro patria.
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the
> tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."
> 
> -- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
> 
> 
> 
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