Wounded Times Challenging PTSD and Suicide Awareness Groups

Marines march in "silkies" to raise awareness about military suicides. Sounds good but the number of members of the military, National Guards and Reservists are not part of the often quoted "22 a day" so not so much truth awareness being raised there. Actually there is not much truth awareness being shared at all and that, that my friends, has left me sick to my stomach.

How about they raise awareness on something like this considering it came from the DOD.

The DSPO has an annual budget of $24 million. The Pentagon also is the largest single supporter of suicide prevention research, funding 61 studies in recent years at a cost of more than $100 million, according to a Rand Corp. report.

Suicide prevention training is mandatory in all five military services, including the Coast Guard, whose suicide statistics are not included in the Defense Department tally.

According to the report, 120 soldiers, 39 Marines, 43 sailors and 64 airmen died by suicide in 2015. The number of Air Force deaths marks the highest for the service in the past decade.

Among the reserves and National Guard, 88 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine reservists died by suicide in 2015, while 100 Army National Guard members and 21 Air National Guardsmen killed themselves.

Actually it is worse considering that the DOD started that "prevention" training in over a decade ago when there were more serving but less committing suicide. The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act came about in 2006 because there were 99 suicides that entire year. The bill was signed by President Bush in 2007.

These are the "military" suicides for the first quarter of 2016

In the first quarter of 2016, the military services reported the following:
 58 deaths by suicide in the Active Component
 18 deaths by suicide in the Reserves
 34 deaths by suicide in the National Guard

And here is a better way to see what is going on.

Mission 22 is a collaboration between Elder Heart, a veteran non-profit organization, and a global advertising agency. Elder Heart is comprised of Delta Force and Special Forces operators Tom Spooner, Magnus Johnson, and Mike Kissel. Because of their personal battles with PTSD and TBI they have made it their mission to raise awareness, enlist support, and end veteran suicide in America.

In 2012 48 Marines committed suicide. 2013 it was 45 followed by 34 in 2014, 39 in 2015 and for 2016 first quarter it was 12. Really not good considering how long they have been "preventing" them topped off with there have been less and less serving every year.

No evidence it worked while they were in the military and more than enough evidence it failed them when they got out of the military.

In 1999 the VA put the number of suicides at 20 a day while no one was talking about them.  

There were about 7 million more veterans in the country back then.  Now the latest report from the VA has the number at,,,,ding, ding, ding, hope alarm bells are going off, because it is right back to 20 a day.

So what exactly has all this "awareness" raising been hoping to achieve? Spreading something that is lacking solutions? Spreading rumors that are baseless especially when you read the reports and understand that while everyone has been pushing up, taking walks, running and doing a hell of a lot of talking, too few actually know what is going on and even less know how to stay alive instead of committing suicide.

I challenge every group out there with good intentions to actually stop doing what is easy for them and start doing what if necessary to change the outcome.

Here are just a few of them but they are happening all over the country.

History of #22KILL: Honor Courage Commitment, Inc. started the #22KILL movement in 2013 after learning about the staggering statistic that an average of 22 veterans are killed by suicide every day. HCC has committed to researching and understanding the genesis of this epidemic, and educating the general public on the issue. #22KILL is a platform to raise awareness not just towards veteran suicide, but also to the issues that can lead them to suicide. These mental health issues can stem from Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, or the struggles and stresses of transitioning from military to civilian life.

22 Too Many is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that cares deeply and passionately about our nations veterans and their families. Through athletic events, we seek to serve as a living memorial, reduce the stigma by increasing public knowledge and awareness of PTS, share helpful resources, and provide support and comfort to the grieving families left behind.

Stop Soldier Suicide We’re Veterans who understand the military mindset and training. While we are not a crisis center and don't provide direct clinical services or therapy, we do offer a high-touch service with connection to resources for many of the stresses faced: job loss, relationship issues, mental health needs, financial worries, housing and more.

The challenge is simple. Since I've been doing this for over 3 decades, tracked reports right here for 9 years with over 26,000 posts, stun me.  Take the time to do a video about what you are doing and put it up on YouTube. Send me the link.

It should be simple to answer the following questions,

What is your goal?
How do you plan on achieving it?
What is the money you are raising for?
How many lives have you saved?
How many people are doing more than just talking about the problem?
What are you doing?
How is what you are doing different from everyone else?

Keep in mind, I started doing videos on PTSD back in 2006, so won't be easy to show me something new.

I'll share your video but will add my two cents to it.  That is a chance you'll have to take but if you believe in what you are doing, then that should not be a problem.

If you stun me, I'll post your video along with a full guest post to spread the word about what you are doing. Right now this is the traffic on Wounded Times.

It started on August 10, 2007 because a Marine dared me to stop posting political rants and keep this about the truth.  I kept my word after he asked me if I was doing this for "them" or myself.

The count started May 2010 with 2,812,685 page views, 79,670 page views last month. Plus I do all this for free. I lose a couple of thousand dollars every year. I have a regular job to pay my bills and I give away more than I get from Google ads.



It is read all over the world.

United States
1861484
Germany
145137
France
141682
Russia
96605
Spain
52740
United Kingdom
49471
Canada
33561
Ukraine
29659
Bulgaria
16494
China
16084

Time to step up the real challenge here because the truth is, we're losing this battle after war. They are running out of time for us to change the outcome.


UPDATE

Received the first response from an old friend, Bob Bambury
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center
Founded: 1992