Death is Not the Answer Film on PTSD and Suicides

It is heartwarming to some when you think of all the people out there trying to make a difference in the lives of others. It is depressing as hell to know wanting to do good and doing it are two totally different things.

I'm not going to rehash the numbers not changing on the suicide reports since 1999.  (You can look them up for yourself if you haven't already read them here.)

There are things that do work. Trauma hits all of you. Your eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart, nerves, organs and especially your mind. It strikes the part of your brain holding your memories and emotions. All of what makes you "you" is changed in an instant.

Healing requires all of "you" to be treated properly.  You need trauma expert doctors to care for your mind and help you put it back in balance again.  You need help on an emotional/spiritual level to help you heal, which all too often is left out of treatment.  You also need physical help because your body needs help to calm down again.

When you live through the thing it isn't just "it" but it is also the fear of it happening again. That is why there are higher numbers of veterans with PTSD after multiple deployments. The Army figured that out in 2006 when they studied the effect of redeployments discovering it raised the risk by 50% for each time being sent back.

Reading an article on physical efforts there is a stunning reminder for anyone thinking any of this is new. Veterans share stories of depression, suicide for film is a great example of veterans doing physical "therapy" to keep them going. 

Recently, Gaudet was one of many veterans who joined the Visionalist Entertainment Production crew as they filmed a portion of their documentary, "Death is NOT the Answer,"

Also in the article there is a Vietnam veteran participating as he has every day since 1982.

Vietnam War veteran Michael Bowen, who ran the track with the students while carrying a prisoners-of-war flag. Bowen, known as “Flag Man,” runs 5 miles to 8 miles almost every day since 1982 to spread awareness about how veterans are affected by suicide.

Yep, 1982. Over three decades because there were many folks working on PTSD by then. I know because I learned from those out there before me so that I could help my own husband. Experts knew back then that help had to involve the whole part of the veteran so they could change again after trauma but this time, for the better.

"Death is not the answer" after war any more than it was the answer during it. How do they do everything humanly possible to survive during combat but find it is more difficult to ask for help afterwards? Doesn't make sense at all.  

In combat, you ask for everything you can get when you need it because lives are depending on all the support you can get. After combat, your life depends on all the help you can get to heal so that you can help others defeat their own demons and their lives depend on someone being there for them.

So what are you thinking? If you leave this earth because of your own actions, how many lives could you have changed fighting for them instead of giving up on yourself?