Frisco firefighter fired while on medical leave wins workers' comp case
Dallas Morning News
By Susan McFarland
October 14, 2023
After the case was heard by the Texas Department of Insurance, a judge ordered the city of Frisco to pay back lost income.
Cameron Kraemer, a firefighter who worked for the city of Frisco for 27 years and was fired while on medical leave, won his workers’ compensation case before the Texas Department of Insurance, and now the city must pay accrued unpaid income with interest, according to the Frisco Fire Fighters Association.
Kraemer, an assistant fire chief, was in the midst of a workers’ compensation appeal for PTSD when, on May 1, Frisco fired him.
He was undergoing treatment for long-term post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition he has been dealing with since 2020 and has been getting medical help for. read more here
Meeting youth mental health needs remains a priority – and challenge – for NH providers
New Hampshire Public Radio
By Paul Cuno-Booth
Published July 10, 2023
Sen. Maggie Hassan and Loreley Godfrey, a Portsmouth resident, and advocate, during a roundtable discussion on youth mental health Monday in Manchester.
Mental health services for children and teens continue to be a pressing need in New Hampshire in the wake of the pandemic, according to providers and advocates who spoke at a roundtable in Manchester Monday.
Depression and anxiety among youth rose during the pandemic, and services have struggled to keep up.
“We have some young adults here that have spent their entire high school in this traumatic situation – addiction crisis, layered with COVID, layered with mental health,” said Mary Forsythe-Taber, the executive director of Makin’ It Happens, a youth-focused organization in the greater Manchester area.
The speakers – who included advocates, representatives of mental health providers, and the head of the state’s behavioral health division – described various ways they’re trying to meet that need, supported by recent infusions of federal funding.
That includes planned investments in community mental health, efforts to better integrate mental health services in schools, and a new University of New Hampshire graduate program that aims to train school social workers.
But high demand and shortages of staff continue to leave some families waiting months for services. The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester is booking some intakes six months out and has about 350 families on the waitlist, according to Director of Child and Adolescent Services Jeanna Still. read more here
I am a senior citizen. Growing old wasn't easy, but I still remember that growing up wasn't easy either. At least when I was young, we didn't have cell phones, social media, or videos to deal with. We did have bullies, and pressures from other kids, and from our parents.
The best advice I can give you is first to know yourself. Who are you, what do you want, what do you love and what do you love to do? Be a best friend to yourself first so that you can cope with the world around you a little bit better.
I know I had to. It wasn't easy and it took a lot of time. The thing is, it was worth it because no matter where you live, who you are with, or what you're doing, you will always be your best friend to yourself.
Find some help here
Children, youth, and families in need of crisis care have many ways to get the help they need. This page is a guide on what types of care they can get during a crisis. What is a crisis? Any time a child, youth, or family cannot handle a mental, emotional, or substance problem. What that looks like for you will be different than someone else. You get to decide if you need help.
New Hampshire's Rapid Response 24-hour services are available by for any child, youth, or family in crisis 1 (833) 710-6477. NHRR has people who can talk, chat or text with anyone and/or can send a Rapid Response Team to meet in person.
As Mental Health Awareness Month, May is a time to raise awareness of and reduce the stigma surrounding behavioral health issues, as well as highlighting the ways how mental illness and addiction can affect all of us – patients, providers, families, and our society at large.
Hospitals and health systems play an important role in the conversations we have around mental health care, including creating partnerships that address behavioral health issues in non-traditional ways. Many of our members are creating new innovations around how behavioral health disorders are identified and treated—through the integration of physical and behavioral health services, changes in their emergency departments and inpatient and outpatient settings. These strategies improve the overall value of health care and can lead to improvements in patient outcomes, quality of care and total costs.
As part of its long-standing commitment to supporting all organizations that work in the realm of behavioral health care, AHA supports the integration of behavioral and physical health, and will continue to help hospitals as they play key roles in establishing partnerships and programs to ensure access to the full continuum of behavioral health care for all who need it. Learn more here
While most online sites reference Mental Health Awareness Month, they do it implying it only applies to veterans. The truth is, it applies to everyone needing help with the illnesses that strike the mind. Well, we all have one. Don't we?
You could be the one with the need, or it could be a family member or someone else you care about. If you have the wrong idea about the basis of mental health, then you as the one living with it, or caring about someone can jump to the wrong assumptions. It can make your lives suck big time instead of getting better.
How many times do you have to see a commercial for medications and how life can become better than what it is? Do you get the point you are not the only one needing help?
Then add this. There are so many others dealing with the same things you are, that companies are advertising it and spending huge sums of money. Would they do that if you were the only one? Nope!
If you are a veteran then go to Make The Connection and watch some of the videos they have up. This one is about living in the present because if you're still living in the past, you need to remember you don't live there anymore! This veteran was dealing with physical and mental health needs.
This one is for everyone else, but remember, you can still learn a priceless lesson from others. What is it? THAT LIFE CAN GET BETTER!
I get alerts on #PTSD all the time. Honestly, one of the reasons I decided to stop focusing on veterans with PTSD and turn the attention onto everyone that survived the cause of it. Until reporters get that message, nothing will change and we will continue to lose more survivors after they should have been helped to heal.
This will give you an idea of what my email fills up with.
Iraq veteran says friends call him at 3am 'with pistol in hand' over war horrors - The Mirror
The Mirror
In the two decades since, many of the soldiers who served have struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For some this included calling ...
70 ptsd rating reddit - donationsva.it - donationsva.it
Former POW Talks About Her Ongoing Battle With PTSD - fashiononashoestring.co.uk - fashiononashoestring.co.uk
Iraq, 20 Years Later: A Changed Washington and a Terrible Toll on America
The New York Times
... 300,000 others returned home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders. ... but what didn't were the PTSD and the traumatic brain injury.
Rosanne Cash performs at Atwood Concert Hall - Alaska's News Source
Alaska's News Source
... with Creative Forces for military veterans suffering from PTSD or traumatic brain injury, writing and performing songs as a form of healing.
Deported: The Iraq War veterans denied the right to live in the US - Sight Magazine
Sight Magazine
But Segovia Benitez fell on hard times when he returned to the United States, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.
Erskine veterans share Iraq war experience 20 years on - Planet Radio
Planet Radio
"I don't think I ever suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but my wife might say differently because there were times when I was ...
Psychological trauma does not leave the American veterans in Iraq - Globe Echo
Globe Echo
Like many war veterans, the experience left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and mixed feelings about the war. In an attempt to process his...
Veteran who fatally stabbed his girlfriend in Anaheim convicted of manslaughter
New Santa Ana
Superior Court jurors that Moseley suffered from PTSD, which stemmed from a traumatic childhood and a tour in Iraq where Moseley, a Navy medic, was ...
There are more on that one email alert but you get the idea. Grammarly freaked out with those headlines and so did my brain.
40 years ago, it made sense that I was reading clinical books in the library about what veterans carried back from wars. After all, the researchers studied WWI, WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans because the government funded most of the research. Vietnam veterans pushed for more research and funding so they could understand what was going on with them, as much as they wanted to fight for all generations of veterans.
I grew up with uncles from WWII and my Dad was a Korean War veteran. Later, I married into another family of veterans from WWII and my Vietnam veteran husband. In all the years of research, I never read anything about anyone like me. I was a survivor too, but not from war. I was a multiple survivor of the events that caused it in me, but it didn't dawn on me that was the reason I understood veterans as much as I did.
When it finally dawned on me, I was furious. I had seen therapists and none of them saw it in me. I knew psychologists and other mental health professionals and they didn't see it in me. I did training with groups and no one saw it in me. Why? Because researchers are interested in studying trauma in survivors of all types of events, reporters are not.
This is one of the biggest reasons why I wrote the Ministers Of The Mystery series. The main character was a reporter. All the main characters are survivors of different events. Sure there are veterans in the spotlight but the attention they get is because they understand it so well, they wanted to pass on the hope of healing and help others along the way. That's how it should be.
The thing that got me about the first book, The Scribe Of Salem, was the reviews. Each one focused on a different genre and took away different messages from the same book.
This was my favorite one, but click the link to discover how 4 other reviewers took away different parts of it while giving it 4 5-star ratings and 1 4-star rating.
Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite
The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos is book one in the Ministers of the Mystery supernatural series. Chris considered himself an expert on the Witchcraft Trials in Salem, but something is about to prove his knowledge wrong. As a newspaper reporter, Chris has traveled the world and seen his fair share of horror, but nothing could compare to what happened next. On a visit to the Bishop Hotel Bar, Salem, a series of events changes everything he thought he knew and turns his life upside down. Chris has been offered a chance to get his life back on track, and he only has to do one thing - meet a Master Minister. When Chris begins to get his life back, he should be happy, right? But he isn’t; he’s terrified. Change has never done him any good before, so why should it make a difference now? God can’t save him – can he?
The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos is a great start to a new series. It’s an intriguing story, blending fantasy and supernatural horror as it delves deep into the Salem Witch Trials. Plenty of novels are based on the Witch Trials, but none are quite like this. It goes into great, descriptive detail about the horrors faced in those times and touches on other themes, such as domestic violence and PTSD. It’s also about having faith, not just in God, but in yourself and the power of friendship. It is a story of horror but also a story of pain, compassion, and healing, a gripping tale that will draw you into its tight clutches. It’s clear that Kathie Costos has done her research, and her characters are realistic people, easy to identify with, and infinitely likable. This wonderful story would make a great movie, and I highly recommend this author. I am looking forward to reading book two.
When you are the protagonist in your own story, understand the ending is up to you. How do you want to write the next chapter of your own story? Can you rewrite your character? No, because your character is "you" but you can become the champion in your own story and write the next chapter your way.
: the principal character in a literary work (such as a drama or story)
: the leading actor or principal character in a television show, movie, book, etc.
: an active participant in an event
: a leader, proponent, or supporter of a cause: CHAMPION
DID YOU KNOW?
Struggle, or conflict is central to drama. The protagonist or hero of a play, novel, or film is involved in a struggle of some kind, either against someone or something else or even against his or her own emotions. So the hero is the "first struggler", which is the literal meaning of the Greek word prōtagōnistēs. A character who opposes the hero is the antagonist, from a Greek verb that means literally "to struggle against".
“It’s heartbreaking to hear that someone who brought so much joy to a room, was hurting so much behind closed doors,” Justin Timberlake wrote in a tribute on Instagram. “I’ve known [Boss] for over 20 years through the dance community - he always lit everything and everyone up. You just never know what someone is going through.”
You don't know what someone is going through unless they tell you. You may guess something is wrong but not understand what's wrong. All too often human nature causes us to internalize it. We wonder what we did wrong. When they choose to leave us, instead of talking to us, again, we blame ourselves. The what "ifs" flood our brains and we drown in unanswerable questions only the one we knew could answer.
If you are the one going through dark times, keep that in mind because the chances are, the people in your life have no idea what you are going through unless you tell them. Maybe you don't want them to worry about you? They already are. Maybe you don't want them to think less of you because you need help when you are the one they always turn to to help them? They won't but they may be wondering why it's ok with you to help them but not trust them to help you when you need it. Whatever is stopping you from turning to the people in your life, understand that is the point of having people in your life, and not just people you know the names of.
Trust them enough to take a chance and open up. If they don't understand what it is, then they will at least know you're hurting and need to work through it. Don't settle for just waiting to get over it but search for those that can help you.
I have a lot of people in my life but I could be in a crowd and feel totally alone at times. When I needed help the people I love could not give, I turned to a therapist I could open up to and she's helping me work through it. My family knows I need more help than they can give and they ok with that because they want me to be happier than I was struggling.
I am the protagonist in my own story and it is up to me to write the next chapter filled with doubts and confusion and struggles, just as each one will contain victories. Isn't it time to take a chance at happiness?
I’m an N.Y.C. Paramedic. I’ve Never Witnessed a Mental Health Crisis Like This One
New York Times
By Anthony Almojera
December 7, 2022
I’ve gone down the road of despair myself. The spring and fall of 2020 left me so empty, exhausted and sleepless that I thought about suicide, too. Our ambulances are simply the entrance to a broken pipeline. We have burned down the house of mental health in this city, and the people you see on the street are the survivors who staggered from the ashes.
Mr. Almojera is a lieutenant paramedic with the New York City Fire Department Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and the author of “Riding the Lightning: A Year in the Life of a New York City Paramedic.”
There are New Yorkers who rant on street corners and slump on sidewalks beside overloaded pushcarts. They can be friendly or angry or distrustful. To me and my colleagues, they’re patients.
I’m a lieutenant paramedic with the Fire Department’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, and it’s rare to go a day without a call to help a mentally ill New Yorker. Medical responders are often their first, or only, point of contact with the chain of health professionals who should be treating them. We know their names and their routines, their delusions, even their birthdays.
It is a sad, scattered community. And it has mushroomed. In nearly 20 years as a medical responder, I’ve never witnessed a mental health crisis like the one New York is currently experiencing. During the last week of November, 911 dispatchers received on average 425 calls a day for “emotionally disturbed persons,” or E.D.P.s. Even in the decade before the pandemic, those calls had almost doubled. E.D.P.s are people who have fallen through the cracks of a chronically underfunded mental health system, a house of cards built on sand that the Covid pandemic crushed. read more here
Peeving because the following story has been repeated over decades of promises from the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to do better addressing PTSD. A claim we've been hearing for decades. Not a typo because they started working on PTSD in the 80's.
Perplexing because I lost count of how many times this was reported on from different alerts. Not one of the reports had solutions and didn't seem to ask many questions.
Like for starters, why is this such a huge story when there are so many other people, in the millions with #PTSD but reporters don't seem to report on any of us? How on earth will veterans finally understand that when humans survive trauma, that is the only way PTSD happens, if reporters don't report on the rest of us? Wouldn't that go a long way toward getting rid of the stigma for all of us?
Ponder this one.
KABC STUDIO CITY, LOS ANGELES reported a veteran refused to get help for PTSD until recently, but couldn't get an appointment. He shot a police officer.
"He kept saying 'I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.' He kept saying that, but I'm sure he probably is experiencing some kind of PTSD," said Lewis. "He said he was in one of the bloodiest battles in Afghanistan, but he also said he had two platoon members this week to commit suicide."
Khosroabadi's family said they've been trying to get him help for years but he refused. He sought help from the VA recently but couldn't get an appointment until January.
"It hurt us a lot to see that because we do have family in law enforcement, so if we ever got that call, we would be really sad as well and we're so sorry," Shayesteh said.
You can find more information here from The National Center for PTSD. 6% of the population of adult Americans with PTSD. That means the vast majority of members of the PTSD club have PTSD while veterans, a minority in the country, have PTSD, but are the bulk of the news reports on PTSD. Doesn't make sense as it is but what is worse, is the fact
Did you know about this?
Child protection services in the U.S. get around three million reports each year. This involves 5.5 million children. Of the reported cases, there is proof of abuse in about 30%. From these cases, we have an idea how often different types of abuse occur:
65% neglect
18% physical abuse
10% sexual abuse
7% psychological (mental) abuse
Why didn't he call the VA Crisis Line? On their site, there is this,
If he couldn't get an appointment but knew he needed help, why did he still have a gun instead of making sure he couldn't use it? Why didn't he call the crisis line and get the help he was looking for?
His family says they tried to get him to go for help for years, but he wouldn't go. This is a common problem. Ask the family of any Vietnam Veteran and they'll tell you horror stories about trying to get their veteran to go for help. (Including me) The question use, why didn't he want to? It isn't like it was back in the 80's or 90's. Reporters have been covering veterans with PTSD for over 20 years because of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans using social media to share with others. Why aren't they sharing solutions as much as they share scams and stupid ideas like "raising awareness" veterans are committing suicide, when they already know that?
Top that off with the news report had the "22 a day" number which was debunked ten years ago. Do they mention how many Americans commit suicide every year is over 46,000 according to the CDC?
For Heaven's Sake! This is PTSD Awareness month but first we need to make reporters aware of what they are supposed to be reporting on or nothing will ever change for any of us!
The Navy wants to boost morale after several suicides. Some sailors say it's not enough.
NBC News
By Deon J. Hampton and Melissa Chan
May 5, 2022
Team-building events are in the works for sailors on the USS George Washington, where three shipmates died by suicide within a week in April.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Navy’s plan for repairing morale on a historic warship after a rash of sailors assigned to the ship killed themselves includes team-building exercises like a video game competition, recreation and moving sailors off the ship.
But some sailors who spoke to NBC News think the efforts don’t go far enough.
The Navy plans to host a day of team-building activities and has asked each department to submit ideas for how crew members could interact off the ship, according to Lt. Cmdr. Robert Myers, a Navy spokesman.
“It could be anything,” Myers said.
A Super Smash Bros. video game competition and a soccer tournament are some of the suggestions that have been floated, according to one George Washington sailor, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
However, that sailor doubted whether such events would fix what appears to be a mental health crisis on the ship. read more here
Well alrighty then! Seems like they got a plan. I hope you caught the solutions they wanted to try.
Are they kidding? Seriously? Super Smash Bros and soccer will really fix a mental health crisis about the same way reminding suicidal veterans there were a lot of other veterans committing suicide. Insanity will not help the mental health of anyone.
As for Lt. Cmdr. Robert Myers saying "It could be anything." That is yet another head smack moment.
Here's thought, how about actually knowing enough about PTSD, trauma, stress and a lot of other things first and then maybe, it would be a good idea to go from there? If they don't understand what causes a mental health crisis by now, it's time for the leaders to be held accountable, especially when they come up with these cockamamie conclusions!
The headline on WLKY News "Kentucky man sues employer for throwing him birthday party, and now they owe him $450K" was a bad choice. Given the fact that an employee told his supervisor he needed her to skip honoring his birthday, she decided to do it anyway. Why? Why would someone want to do something for someone that was clearly going to hurt them? Was she so oblivious to the fact that even telling her he had a problem with it was not enough to get her to change her mind?
The employee found out about the party and was so stressed out about it that he went to his car instead of going to the lunchroom. He ended up being fired!
A Kentucky man took his employer to court after they threw him a birthday party he didn't want, and the jurors sided with him.
Now, his employer owes him $450,000.
The verdict was handed down this week in Kenton County Circuit Court in Northern Kentucky. The plaintiff, an employee of Gravity Diagnostics, sued his employer after he was fired following a birthday party they threw for him in August.
The employee asked the office manager days before his birthday in August to not arrange a birthday celebration as they did for other employees.
Then on Aug. 7, the employee's birthday, the office arranged for a lunchtime birthday party in the lunchroom, according to the lawsuit. The employee said that he found out about the party as he was headed to his lunch break, which triggered a panic attack. read more here
This goes to show that not doing what was needed was not intended to be a good thing to the recipient. How many times have you told someone what you needed help with, but they ignored what you needed and did only what they wanted to do "for you" that you didn't want or need in the first place?
It happens all the time. It means they are doing it to make themselves feel good about themselves and not making your life any easier.
When you have a mental illness, you know what your triggers are and you do all you can to avoid them. You know what they will cause you to go through. This employee was caused to suffer for this "gift" given to him he didn't want. He must have had to explain it to his coworkers, causing even more emotional pain, and then had to face more with his supervisor, topped off with higher-ups who then fired him.
All the avoidable distress caused should be a lesson to everyone out there, especially in the workplace. How many of us have been in a forced situation like that? You tell family you don't want parties but they do it anyone because they think you deserve to have some fun. You tell them you don't want to go to a party or movie or in large crowds, and then they get angry because you won't go with them.
You need to be left out of it without being punished for it. It is a no-win situation for you. Most of us cringe when it comes to the approaching event someone is talking about because we know it will cause us pain to go and more pain if we don't because the people who are supposed to know us don't understand us.
If you are going through something like this and need to let people know how much harm they are doing by doing what they want instead of what you need, show them this article so they will understand how much pain they can inflict instead of making you feel the way they want you to feel.
If a veteran being shot and killed by police after being called by a family because he was in crisis, doesn't bother you, you are not thinking. If they have PTSD and need help, but end up being killed, the rest of us don't stand a chance either.
There are millions of American joining the PTSD club every year and none of us want to belong to it, but when we are not getting the help we need when we are in crisis, it doesn't make the news. When veterans are killed, it does.
Veterans do, and always have had my heart. I got into working with veterans 40 years ago and have not stopped, even though now my efforts are for everyone struggling after surviving. I am one of them.
When you read the following story about Jonathan Pears being killed by police officers after his family tried to get him help, understand that it could be you or someone you love this happens to. If the police still don't understand how to respond to someone in mental health crisis, even with so many officers dealing with PTSD, the rest of us can very well end up with the same fate. We survive what happens to us and then, too many cannot survive what comes afterwards. We've been doing this for far too long to still be losing so many lives out of lingering ignorance.
Family of veteran with PTSD killed by Alabama deputy wants answers, new body camera law
Associzated Press
Published: Mar. 30, 2022
Born into a military family, Jonathan Pears had served first as an airman and then as a contractor in Afghanistan. When he returned, he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues, according to his father, retired Air Force Col. Andy Pears.
Andy and Mary Pears stand with a photo of their son by the memorial to him in the front yard of their home in Elmore County, Ala., on Nov. 5, 2021. Thirty-two-year-old Jonathan Pears was shot and killed by deputies on July 28, 2021. The couple said their son, a military veteran suffered PTSD and depression after returning from Afghanistan, and they called 911 seeking help for him during a mental health crisis. The Elmore County Sheriff's Office said Pears was holding a large knife and refused commands to drop it. His parents maintain deputies were a safe distance away and did not have to shoot their son. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)AP
When Mary Pears called 911 because her veteran son who had PTSD appeared to be having a mental health crisis, she had hoped to get him help and keep everyone safe.
Within minutes, 32-year-old Jonathan Pears was dead, fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in the front yard of his parents’ Alabama home.
“I wanted someone to talk him down. I wanted someone to come help us to get him calmed down. I absolutely did not want them to kill my son, nor did I ever think that would happen,” Mary Pears said.
The tragic end to their call for help didn’t have to happen, the family said. Now, they want changes in how officers respond to a mental health crisis and have filed a lawsuit accusing the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office of using excessive force.
read more here
Why is it that people have no problem selecting someone to blame instead of knowing what is actually responsible? Mental Health Crisis calls cannot be solved with bullets.
Over and over again, we read news reports about police officers shooting someone after receiving a mental health crisis call. What we don't read is what comes afterwards. What happened to the family of the person in crisis? What happened to the officers responding?
The Concord Monitor just told the story of Meredith New Hampshire police officer Kevin O’Reilly after he received a call to respond to a man in crisis. The man was not a stranger to officer O'Reilly. He had responded because of the man "several times" before.
The article stated, "In New Hampshire, more than 60 percent of the people killed by police in the last decade struggled with mental illness, according to a Monitor analysis based on 10 years and more than 30 Attorney General reports."
Police are tasked with responding to mental crises. The results can be disastrous for officers and callers alike.
Concord Monitor
By TEDDY ROSENBLUTH
December 23, 2021
In New Hampshire, police officers, often not sufficiently trained on the intricacies of handling mental illness, are likely the first — and sometimes the only — response to those in a psychiatric crisis.
Last summer, Kevin O’Reilly sat around the Meredith police station with other officers and talked about a trend they noticed on the local news.
Stories of police shootings, specifically those that involved someone in a mental health crisis, seemed to pop onto the television every couple of months.
They listed off the recent ones: there was the middle-aged man shot in Belmont, about 16 miles south, whose parents said had been in and out of the psychiatric hospital for PTSD and bipolar disorder. About a year later, a 37-year-old man, who family members said struggled with delusions and paranoia for most of his adult life, was shot while running naked at a Thornton police officer about 20 miles to the north.
Every year, it seemed like more and more of O’Reilly’s job was consumed by mental illness. He estimated that on a typical night, three-quarters of his calls were to help someone in crisis.
“We’re not equipped or fully trained to deal with that,” he said. “We do our best: we try to talk softer and slower, bring them down. But we didn’t go to school for that.” read more here
Sometimes the person has no one trying to help them. Others have family members facing their own turmoil, knowing someone they love needs help, but for whatever reason, the help they receive is not enough. Either way, families have to deal with the results and most of the time, they are unable to make peace with the fact they did the best they could with what they were not equipped to deal with.
For the officers involved, they may be able to come to terms with having to shoot a criminal easier than they can rationalize having to shoot someone who is only dangerous because their minds are sending them into the crisis the police had to respond to.
How many times does this have to happen before this nation actually comes to the conclusion that we have a mental health crisis in this country?
January 9, 2020
Police officers opened fire on the man who was armed with a knife at about 10:22 p.m. at the Veterans Affairs Hospital at 4500 S. Lancaster Road. The man was at the hospital seeking psychiatric help, police said. At some point during the interaction, the man started to walk off and the VA officers followed him and tried to disarm him, according to the VA police. Their attempts to disarm him were unsuccessful and two officers opened fire, police said.
The worst thing of all is, police departments across the country are not taking mental health seriously in their communities or in the force itself. How do they expect officers trained to respond to criminals, suddenly become able to respond to people in crisis, when they cannot even respond to officers in crisis because of the jobs they do?
The only way is remember who is responsible for what. Officers are not trained to for mental health emergencies, anymore than psychologists are trained to deal with criminals. Knowing the limitations on humans will go a long way to changing the outcome.
Navy veteran died after police knelt on his neck for nearly 5 minutes, family says
Associated Press
FEBRUARY 24, 2021
A Navy veteran who was going through an episode of paranoia died after a Northern California police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, his family said Tuesday. The family of Angelo Quinto called police on December 23 because the 30-year-old was suffering a mental health crisis and needed help.
This Nov. 30, 2017 photo provided by Isabella Collins shows Navy veteran Angelo Quinto in Moffett Field in Mountainview, Calif.
CASSANDRA QUINTO-COLLINS / AP
His family says a responding officer knelt on Quinto's neck for nearly five minutes while another officer restrained his legs. Quinto lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died three days later.
"He said 'Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me,' as they were putting him on the ground. They handcuffed him and one officer put his knee on the back of his neck the whole time I was in the room," said Quinto's mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins
"I trusted the police because I thought they knew what they were doing but he was actually passive and visibly not dangerous or a threat so, it was absolutely unnecessary what they did to him," she said.
A video recorded by Quinto-Collins shows her son listless, with a bloodied face and his hands cuffed behind his back. She said she began recording after seeing her son's eyes were rolled up in his head.
The family filed a legal claim against the Antioch Police Department last week, which gives the department 45 days to respond. After that time has elapsed, the family will file a federal lawsuit, said John Burris, the Quintos' attorney. read more here
Our nation is facing an epidemic of historical proportions. We have a pandemic claiming over 100,000 lives in a span of about 3 months. We have over 40 million unemployed. Healthcare workers are dying while trying to save lives while many other providers are losing their jobs. Protests to reopen the states have included individuals showing up with guns. Many people are regarding the pandemic as someone else's problem. We have racists, no longer ashamed of how they view fellow citizens. Native Americans are dealing with the virus killing them in higher number, poverty, lack of services, at the same time they are under threat of losing their lands. This is a nation in crisis.
“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated” ― Thomas Paine, The Crisis
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." as Thomas Paine said so eloquently, applies to what this nation faces today. More and more people are forgetting how we got where we are and the price paid by generations who came before them. They forget that entire generations risked their lives in service to this country in times of war, as well as times of peace. They paid for the freedom so many others want to claim as their "right to enjoy" at the same time they want to remove the rights of others.
While those who entered the military were from all political sides, color, states and religious beliefs, they managed to set aside their differences and were willing to die for one another. We should take that to heart, especially now, but we have faced the crushing burdens before. The difference is, we learned from them.
In 1968, someone filled with hate assassinated Rev. King after he was willing to pay the price to achieve social justice for Black Americans, peacefully protesting and speaking out against using violence to respond to violence. I was alive then and remember it. Just as I was alive when President Kennedy was assassinated, and his brother Bobby was killed. Yet all of these men moved the majority of my generation to stop seeing people based on color of their skin. It was about the "content of their character" that mattered.
Looking at what is happening in this country right now, we have witnessed a reversal of that. Are there bad police officers? Yes, but not all police officers are bad, but while the majority are good, they are all being attacked for what the few bad ones do.
We see protestors flooding the streets, rioters and looters destroying property and burning down businesses in their communities during a pandemic. We see some others showing up to protest orders by the governors of their states with arms, attempting to intimidate their fellow citizens and politicians to yield the better judgement for the greater good to do their will. Are all protestors committing crimes? No, but again, they are all being blamed for what a few do.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
While anger and fear have gripped this nation, we are forced to expand our view aways from what is on the news and see what else is happening to find signs of hope.
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The majority of people in this country are trying their best to do the right thing. Mankind is not "so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war" because there is "peace and brotherhood" still alive in the shadows of one of the worst times in this country.
People of all political sides, color, states and religious beliefs are stepping up for their fellow citizens and the greater good. People are regarding the "content of character" that requires a heart that will not judge anyone by anything else. Thoughts are motivating action to fight against hopelessness. Prayers are motivating action to help others suffering by finding way to do whatever they can for total strangers.
Yes, these are bleak times in this country, but we have been in darkness before. We survived those days because others stepped up refusing to accept what "was" because they dreamed of what could be.
Suicide risk for veterans could grow as coronavirus crisis winds down
Military Times
May 22, 2020
Before March, about 15 percent of all VA mental health appointments were conducted over the phone or via video conferencing. Today that figure sits at 80 percent. Telephone appointments for those patients rose from about 170,000 a month before the pandemic to 768,000 in April alone.
Veterans’ isolation and stress from the coronavirus pandemic could increase their chances of suicidal thoughts, but health experts are warning that the worst impacts to their mental health could come after the immediate crisis is over.
An orthopedic technician takes a patient's swab sample during a screening for COVID-19 symptoms outside the Keesler Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., on March 23, 2020. (Kemberly Groue/Air Force)
That’s because of long-term problems with personal finances, lingering health issues and misplaced expectations of mental health issues disappearing with a return to pre-crisis life.
“During the actual crisis, suicides can go down. It’s in the aftermath that it gets worse,” said Barbara Stanley, a research scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, during a press call sponsored by National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention on Thursday. “We expect to see fallout in terms of possible increases in suicide as a tail going forward.” read it here
Veterans Groups, VA Brace for Surge in Demand for Mental Health Care
The Associated Press
By SARAH BLAKE MORGAN, CLAUDIA LAUER and HOPE YEN
May 11, 2020
“After years of self-imposed isolation ... I was really in need of person-to-person contact,” said Goldsmith, now the assistant director of policy at Vietnam Veterans of America. “Flash forward almost 13 years now since I got out, and telehealth is right for me."
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — When Kristofer Goldsmith was discharged from the Army in 2007 he was in crisis.
Margo Jarvis takes part in video teleconference at Cohen Veteran's Network's on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Fayetteville, N.C. (AP Photo/Sarah Blake Morgan)
He had been trained as a forward observer — the person who spots a target and gives coordinates to artillery — but when he got to Iraq, the then 19-year-old instead found himself photographing dead bodies for intelligence gathering. A suicide attempt before his second deployment triggered a less than honorable discharge and a long fight to gain honorable status after being diagnosed with PTSD.
VA officials said telehealth medical appointments jumped from 20,000 in February to nearly 154,000 in April. Many of the department’s partners have moved most or all of their mental health appointments to telehealth, including the Cohen Veterans Network which transitioned 98% of patients at its 15 clinics. read it here
Suicidal military veterans desperate for help as support calls triple during lockdown
The Mirror
BySean Rayment
10 MAY 2020
Rifleman Nathan Worner, 20, of the Rifles Regiment, was found dead at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, last week.
Simon Maryan of Icarus Online (Image: Icarus Online)
Calls for help from mentally traumatised military veterans have soared by 100 per cent since the start of the lockdown, the Sunday People can reveal.
Support groups have been inundated with calls from suicidal veterans and current troops struggling to cope with isolation caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
Many of those seeking help have mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
Two veterans and a serving member of the Army have taken their lives in the past two weeks.
The deaths bring to at least 22 the number of veterans and serving members who are believed to have killed themselves since the start of the year.
The mental health crisis comes just weeks after the Ministry of Defence shut down a phone hotline for veterans and told them to ring the Samaritans instead.
The MoD has also stopped taking compensation claims from troops and veterans suffering from mental health conditions and physical injuries. read it here
Ray of hope as Scots armed forces veterans wait two years for a mental health plan
Herald Scotland
By Martin Williams
Senior News Reporter
May 8, 2020
Earlier this week the military support group All Call Signs rescued five suicidal veterans during lockdown and issued a warning that more lives are at risk.
Ray of hope as Scots armed forces veterans wait two years for a mental health plan
ARMED forces veterans are facing a threat from an enemy they cannot see.
That threat is mental illness - and can deal a fatal blow long after a soldier has left the theatre of war and the military.
While Scottish armed forces veterans have waited over two years for a recommended mental health plan after concerns over suicides - a Scottish university is now playing a key role in a new UK-wide study on the psychological health and wellbeing of families of ex-service men and women.
Two years ago, a report by Eric Fraser, the first Scottish veterans commissioner revealed Scots wounded war heroes had been failed by the Government and a covenant to protect them was “meaningless”. read it here
Where are all the experts I learned from and taught?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 7, 2020
Most of the experts I learned from have retired. Most of the people I taught over the years have gotten out of this work because it is so damn hard to do. Right now you need to remember why you got into this work in the first place.
For readers who do not know much about me, I used to be famous. I was know as Nam Guardian Angel going back to the early 90's online. That is what happens when people see what is happening before most people do. My work was sought out by military brass, psychologist, psychiatrists, mental health workers and educators. It astonished me how far the reach went, considering it was all word of mouth and intended to help veterans understand what PTSD so they would also know they could heal.
I am married to a Vietnam veteran with PTSD and survived traumatic events that could have killed me 10 times. I know what a flashback is, experienced nightmares, mood swings, anger, paranoia, depression, the list goes on. The biggest thing I want readers to get right now, is I also know what is on the flip side of the doom and gloom.
WE HAVE THE POWER TO OVERCOME
I wrote about living with PTSD back in 2002 in my first book, yet no matter how much I wrote, by then, the younger generation wasn't getting the message. In 2006, I started making videos. By 2008, I was Certified as a Chaplain with the IFOC and won an award for PTSD I Grieve. It was intended for members of the National Guard, but the IFOC was using it to help police officers and firefighters.
In 2007, I started this site and it has been read all over the world.
Why am I telling you all this? So that you take what I am saying seriously.
The parade passed me by many years ago, but considering it started in 1982...it was a long time coming, I have been just doing my work and stopped competing with the influx of people getting into this for the wrong reasons and getting in the way. They left no room for me and I had no tolerance for them.
Lately I have been feeling really down about what has been going on with COVID-19 and our lives turned upside down. I have been searching for signs of hope that the power of trauma had not increased because educators mobilized to do crisis intervention. That search ended this morning when I read an article by an ER Doctor.
"The unfortunate truth is that the United States has never adequately provided treatment for mental and emotional health challenges, such as PTSD, for brave citizens who put their country before themselves. As we begin to imagine a post-Covid-19 America, we must do better by all of our veterans, including the hundreds of thousands of health care workers who have borne the trauma of this pandemic. That starts by destigmatizing mental health issues and making it easier for physicians, nurses and others to seek out the resources they need." Tsion Firew
Why am I still reading things like this? What hasn't the mental health community learned from the lessons people like me have been sharing for decades? Is it because they stopped looking or they stopped thinking?
I am wondering where the hell all the experts are? Where are you hiding? Did the parade push you out of the way too? Time to stop resting and get back into action because too many people need your expertise right now.
I don't do it for money and safe bet, you didn't either. It is a safer bet that you are grieving as much as I am for all the suffering going on right now.
You may believe that you will not be able to reach enough to make a difference. Is one enough for you? Do you remember what it felt like to change a life for the better? To be able to send them away knowing they will be happier ever after because of what you did for their sake?
"Whoever changes one life, changes the whole world.”
Read what the Doctor wrote and know that you have the power to make the difference right now before it is too late to wish you had done something when you had the chance!
Emergency doctor: We need help before it's too late
KITV 4 News
Opinion by Tsion Firew
Wednesday, May 6th 2020
Opinion by Tsion Firew Last weekend, I was on CNN discussing the importance of supporting the mental and emotional health of medical professionals. I likened this pandemic to an invisible bomb going off in our emergency...
Last weekend, I was on CNN discussing the importance of supporting the mental and emotional health of medical professionals. I likened this pandemic to an invisible bomb going off in our emergency departments.
Twenty-four hours later, I learned about the death of my colleague, Dr. Lorna Breen. A day later, I learned from media reports that she had died by suicide. It was a one-two punch, like she died twice.
Lorna had survived Covid-19 earlier this month. As her physical symptoms got better, the mental toll of the pandemic continued to get worse.
And as I mourned, I reflected.
The world is hailing medical professionals as heroes, and don't get me wrong: The public praise has been a welcome shift. Our jobs were harrowing long before this crisis and will remain so long after we return to some semblance of normalcy. I am grateful for the acknowledgment.
Heed our call. The front line of this pandemic needs mental health resources and emotional support to process the destruction we cannot prevent, we cannot fix. The next wave is coming. We need help before it's too late for more of us. read it here
I am going to start this the way I usually end a video...with what you are empowered to do. "...go do the best things in life...make the most of the rest of your life."
Right now the world is living through global pandemic trauma. Life as they knew it ended. As of yesterday "There are at least 387,547 cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 12,291 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases." according to a CNN running update. That means at least that many have experienced the trauma of fighting for their lives. Even more have experienced the trauma of it coming into their families and the fear of it happening to those who have thus far escaped it. While some people take a callous attitude to take advantage of the trauma, many more are going out to make sure others stay alive, even if it means they are subjecting themselves to more trauma. Aside from hurricanes and this pandemic, I survived life altering trauma 10 times. I know what it can do to lives, but the key is, only if we allow it to gain control. This is from ABC News
Calls to US helpline jump 891%, as White House is warned of mental health crisis
Last month the “Disaster Distress Helpline” at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) saw an 891% increase in call volume compared with March 2019, according to a spokesman for the agency, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, this March – ending little more than a week ago – saw 338% more calls to the helpline than in the month before, when the deadly virus began to take hold inside the U.S. homeland, and government officials began taking more extreme measures to stop its spread.
There are 57.8 million Americans currently living with mental or substance use disorders, according to SAMHSA.
Two ways to look at the report are, it is terrible that many are in crisis, or, there are many more fighting for their lives and acknowledging they need help. Please take that as a sign it is OK to ask for help if you need it too. But what else can we do against something we have no control over? Look at what we can control. We can control how we act and react. We control what we do if we are healthy enough to help others. We control if we act out of kindness and patience, or react with selfishness. We control if we show that we are suffering too and are afraid to comfort someone else, or react with judgement unwilling to show we are not super-human. read it here
Family struggling with questions after VA police shoot and kill Army veteran at medical center in Dallas
Dallas Morning News
By David Tarrant
Mar 6, 2020
January shooting during confrontation with 51-year-old man seeking psychiatric care remains under investigation by the Dallas Police Department
Dallas police squad cars park outside the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center near where a man was fatally shot by hospital police Wednesday night.(Metro News Service)
On a Friday morning in early January, two cops showed up at Donovan Ashcraft’s house.
The 23-year-old from McAlester, Oklahoma, was at home with the mother of his new baby.
“Do you know Donald Ashcraft?” one of the officers asked him.
Donovan’s father, a 51-year-old Army veteran from Oklahoma City, had struggled with mental health issues for years. He’d been arrested months earlier for threatening violence with a knife. Donovan hadn’t spoken to his father since last summer. Now he feared the worst.
“Is he dead?” the son asked.
Yes, the officers told him.
Officers fatally shot the Army veteran on the night of Jan. 8 after he allegedly refused to drop a knife at the Dallas VA Medical Center.
Donald arrived at the southeast Dallas hospital seeking help "for psychiatric issues” and was seen holding the weapon, according to police statements. When he tried to walk away, VA officers followed him, trying multiple times to disarm him. “The man attempted to attack VA police with the knife, causing VA police to fatally shoot him,” according to the statement issued by the medical center. read it here
