Why do so many veterans want to kill themselves?

Why do veterans want to kill themselves?
by
Chaplain Kathie

They didn't want the enemy to kill them during combat. So why do they want to do it to themselves?

Over a million veterans and family members called the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Sounds good. Doesn't it? After all, saving lives is a good thing. Veterans reaching out for help before they end their own lives is a good thing. Isn't it?

Only if you just look at it one way but if you step back, look at the whole picture, you'll see how bad these numbers truly are.

These men and women survived combat. As much as they wanted to save the lives of their buddies, they wanted to live. Bullets coming at them and the possibility of an IED waiting to blow them up, they managed to live with all that going on.

Time for some questions to be answered.

The government has spent millions on "training" them to prevent PTSD and "toughen" their minds yet over a million crisis calls came into the hotline. Why? Why do over a million reach the point where they are thinking of killing themselves, especially after they left combat and are "safely" back home?

With all the "training" they were given, why does the number of attempted suicides of active servicemen and women continue to grow?

Over a million calls and 20,000 saved sounds good but what happened to the others?

Crisis hot line saves suicidal war veterans
By Christina Ginn, CNN
Sun December 18, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The Veterans Crisis Line was launched in 2007
Dispatchers have saved 20,000 lives, according to the director
Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 or text 838255
They can also chat with a responder at Veterans Crisis Line

Canandaigua, New York (CNN) -- Suicide continues to plague the American military, with an estimated 18 war veterans in the United States ending their lives each day. One of the last resorts for veterans struggling with the return to civilian life is a suicide-prevention hot line based in upstate New York.

The humble offices of the Veterans Crisis Line in Canandaigua, New York, are like any other office space: desks, computers, telephones. But as you walk past each cubicle, you begin to hear extraordinarily disturbing conversations.

"I have a .45 pointed at my head," one caller says.

"Can you put that knife away for a bit while we talk? Can you do that for me? Can you hold off just for a little bit?" a hot line worker asks.

"What sort of weapons do you have?" another calmly responds.

The men and women who answer the Veterans Crisis Line phones are on the front lines of an all-out war on suicide. Each speaks to the caller with a very clear purpose: keep the person on the phone long enough to get help.

"The first thing I say to a caller when they do have the object that they plan on killing themselves with them on their person, whether it's a loaded gun on their lap or the rope already strung, I always say to them, 'Can you agree to not shoot yourself, take your pills, get up on the ladder while we're on the phone?' " explained Maureen McHenry, a crisis line responder.

In 2011, the U.S. Army recorded 246 cases of confirmed or potential suicides among active-duty and reserve soldiers, according to statistics released in November. That number appears to be below the 2010 level of 305 for the full 12 months but above the second-highest year: 2009, which had 242 suicides.
The U.S. Marines have recorded 28 confirmed suicides and 163 attempted suicides this year through October. Current numbers were not available for the U.S. Navy, Air Force and National Guard. Those three branches reported suicides among service members in 2010 to be 39, 100 and 112, respectively.

read more here

Congressional Hearing On Meds and Suicide of Veterans

Saturday, June 25, 2011

February 12, 2011 Dr. Peter Breggin testifies before congress on the connection between medications and suicides among veterans.

We know medications are not supposed to be the end of treatment but in too many cases, that is all they get. All too often the medications are dangerous and come with warnings. Therapy is vital according to most experts but far too many have been redeployed without therapy or the monitoring they are supposed to receive. This makes them more vulnerable than they would have been if they were allowed to heal before being sent back.

Ignoring increased risk of PTSD in redeployed at our peril 

August 2007 readdressing a report from the Washington Post going back to 2006.

Redeployments increase the risk of developing PTSD by 50% according to the Army study done years ago but over and over again they are redeployed. Most of the time they end up back in combat at the same time they should have been able to recover from the previous deployment and allowed time to discover if the damage to them needed addressing.

"Dwell Time" for Soldiers May Lead to Increase in PTSD Diagnosis

Thursday, December 8, 2011

"When you're over there, it's pretty much life and death every day, and you always have to be looking out for yourself - so dwell time is definitely important," added Corporal Jared Tittle, USMC.

This report came out proving this with extended dwell time resulting in an increase of PTSD issues. Given enough time for them to see what changes are happening within them allowed them the opportunity to get the help they needed. We've seen how a "busy" life covers the ravages of war in Vietnam veterans. Mild PTSD trapped behind careers and keeping busy gained power so that when they retired, their PTSD exploded.

With over 13,000 posts on this blog, I can tell you that the above reports are only a sample of what has been known and ignored.

The number "18" veterans a day reported of veterans committing suicide is only part of it. Reporters have failed to point out that if a veteran is not in the VA system, they are not counted. Consider the hundreds of thousands of backlog of claims and you get a better idea. The numbers reported for active military again, just part of the true number when you consider after they are discharged, they are no longer counted by the military.

This is why we should all be heartsick over reading about so many calling the suicide prevention hotline. We should be grateful the men and women staffing it are there but never stop asking why they have to be there in the first place.