Veteran Suicide: Brain Scan Showed the Scars, Bars Showed Scorn

Another soldier spurned by Army dies of apparent suicide
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
August 4, 2015

Since non-medical management took over, 90 soldiers have committed suicide within three months of receiving substance abuse treatment.

This is Georgia National Guard Spc. Stephen Akins. On July 2, six months after he was expelled, Chrystal Akins found her son in the basement bedroom of her home in Austell, just west of Atlanta, dead of an apparent suicide by overdose, according to police. Michael A. Schwarz, USA TODAY

For a U.S. Army where failures to treat soldiers with substance abuse problems have been linked to suicides, Georgia National Guard Spc. Stephen Akins was another tragedy waiting to happen.

Scans of his brain showed scars, and he had a history of seizures, combat blast exposure and suicide attempts. All were indisputable evidence that the soldier needed a medical retirement — despite erratic behavior that led to punishable infractions, his lawyer and psychiatrist argued. Such a move would offer a smooth transition from the Army to the care of the VA.

But the Army didn't see it that way. A two-star general with no medical background concluded that the 31-year-old soldier's behavior — drunken driving, speeding, missed appointments and urinalysis cheating — had nothing to do with traumatic brain injury or emotional problems and kicked him out of the Army.

On July 2, six months after he was expelled, Chrystal Akins found her son dead in the basement bedroom of her home in Austell, Ga., just west of Atlanta, victim of an apparent suicide by overdose, according to police. "It totally blew me away," she said about prying open his bedroom door and finding his body on his bed. "I'll live with this the rest of my life."
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