Center for American Progress paying attention to PTSD

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The Military’s Solution To The Troop Suicide Epidemic
February 13, 2008
Fact: As many as 121 American soldiers may have committed suicide during 2007. That compares with 52 Army suicides in 2001 and 79 in 2003, the first year of the Iraq war. The Army suicide rate in 2006 was 17.5-per-100,000, the highest since rate estimates began in 1980. The civilian rate is 11-per-100,000. [USA Today]
Another fact: More than half of all veterans who took their own lives after returning from Iraq or Afghanistan were members of the National Guard or Reserves, according to new government data that prompted activists on Tuesday to call for a closer examination of the problem. [AP]

The staggering suicide rate has often been linked to the lack of mental health professionals—and the generally weak psychological care—present in the armed forces.

But now, it seems as though the military has found an, um, interesting solution to help curb the problem: an interactive video that will have soldiers play the role of a 19-year-old GI in Iraq ready to kill himself. [Mic Check]

The video is just like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, only much, much darker. The GI is shown fantasizing about suicide, says the game’s screenwriter Chris Stezin, in a barracks scene where the character points an M-4 rifle at himself. Later, if the player avoids seeking help, the character grows more despondent and is shown entering his barracks. A gunshot is then heard, and the screen fades to black.

“We’re all butting our heads against the wall, trying to figure out what else we can do” to address the problem, says Army Lt. Col. Orman “Wayne” Boyd, a chaplain who develops anti-suicide programs for the Army’s Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. This, apparently, is their solution.

May we offer a suggestion?

While an interactive video is an innovative approach, the military may need to pursue other options in the mental health department. For starters—how about not sending troops back into battle that have already proven to be suicidal?
Earlier this week, it was reported that a bipolar, alcoholic soldier who was hospitalized after a suicide attempt was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East. [Editor and Publisher]
We’re just sayin’...
http://www.campusprogress.org/newswire/2517/the-militarys-solution-to-the-troop-suicide-epidemic

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As bad as this is, it’s actually worse. Yesterday a report came out stating the VA backlog of claims has jumped to 816,211. These are not numbers, but veterans with families, who have been wounded. Between the time a claim is filed, usually for veterans who are unable to work, and the time it’s approved, they are not counted and they are not paid.

Every expert stated the sooner treatment begins, the better the healing. The problem with this kind of backlog, most of them are seeking help for mental health issues. The list of problems the combat veterans face right now is endless. This is one of the reasons they become homeless. National Guardsmen and Reservist are reporting 50% of them have already been diagnosed with PTSD.

Military experts know redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50% for each time they are sent back, yet they wonder why the PTSD numbers are so high. When we are able to reach them and get them to seek help, they are not only trapped in the backlog of claims with the VA, the DOD provides medication and then sends them back to Iraq and Afghanistan, or gives them a dishonorable discharge under “personality disorder” along with misdiagnosing them.

This will take everyone in this country to get it right for them. Glad you posted about this. I’ve been doing this advocacy work for 25 years and have never seen it this bad. The frightening thing is, this is just the beginning and we’re already failing them.

— Kathie Costos - Feb 14, 08:47 AM