Clueless reporters part of problem with military suicides

A retired Air Force Colonel says she went from having a lot of responsibility in the military to wondering when to vacuum but this reporter thought she'd be worth interviewing on military suicides? What the hell is wrong with reporters? Do they get assigned things they know nothing about? Are they so lazy they can't even take the time to research any of it?

Experts say military suicides are preventable
ABC News
Posted: Feb 19, 2013
By Candace Sweat

Military suicides hit a record high in 2012. Some fear the rate will climb in the coming years as troops return from Afghanistan. One local woman says action can be taken to help those who suffer from the mental stress associated with military life.

"If you were to try to talk about your emotions and things that you're feeling as far as war and things of that nature, very few people understand," said Penny Bailey.

Bailey is a retired Airforce colonel and the wife of an active duty Air Force physician. Unless you are in the military, or part of a military family, Bailey says it's often difficult to fully understand the challenges.

"Whereas we are very proud of our troops we really don't know how to help them or support them," she said.

More than two-thousand service members took their own lives over the last decade. Military suicides happened at a record pace in the year 2012, with an average of one suicide every 25 hours.

"A lot of our young men and women have gone over seas and all of these IEDs have exploded and they've seen their friends lose arms and legs and they're right there trying to save their life," said Bailey.

Combat isn't the only trigger for stress and depression. Bailey says sometimes what civilians consider ordinary, can be a major problem for military families.

She says she went from having a tremendous amount of responsibility in the military, to deciding what time of day to vacuum her house.

Lieutenant Colonel Scott Sonnek, Ph.D. is the Chief of Psychology for the 59th Medical Wing at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The facility is located on the grounds of Lackand Air Force Base.
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I read this report and watched this video but counting to "10" didn't help at all. I ended up leaving this comment.

namguardianangel
How much did you get wrong in this article? Here are the real numbers for 2012. 168 Soldiers, 84 National Guardsmen, 42 Army Reservists, 46 Marines, 53 Sailors, 56 Airmen. Then there are the veterans suicides with "at least" which keeps getting left off. The study came from only 21 states and was limited to certificates of death with the word "veteran" on it. The is only one reason people commit suicide. They lose hope tomorrow will be better. Want to really help? First learn how to and then start reporting what does work and then you'll save some lives.

If they do not know how to help, they haven't been paying attention! As for "Chief of Psychology" he should be an expert on trauma and then he may have a clue that PTSD, diagnosed or not, CAUSES RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS! Redeployments added to this and the Army knew it all the way back in 2006 but just kept redeploying them.

There is no excuse for being this inept when so many survive combat but cannot survive afterwards!