Washington Post did not notice research should be about facts, not just what they see?

Washington Post got military suicide research wrong

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 19, 2020

One would think that an article on something as serious as military suicides would require diligent research, before presenting it as such. So, why did Washington Post not notice research should be about facts, not just what they see?

The Houston Chronicle posted from The Washington Post, Can historical analysis help reduce military deaths by suicide? by Jeffrey Allen Smith, Michael Doidge, Ryan Hanoa and B. Christopher Frueh, January 17, 2020,

"At the dawn of a new decade, it is time to broaden the scope of research and use history to inform our problem-solving and the policies we develop as result. Incorporating historical data can help scientific researchers recognize and separate chronic forces from acute factors affecting suicide rates. Instead of analyzing military suicide over the past 20, 50 or 70 years, what if we examined available records and documents from the past 200? We did just this in a recently published study."

but the problem is, others have been looking at historical facts for a lot longer. While these are great questions,

"Examining historical patterns can assist policymakers and the military in addressing the factors causing it. For example, we must now ask ourselves what is different and unique about the war on terrorism? Why do the best efforts of the Defense Department, modern psychiatry and dramatically expanded mental health programs not result in lower suicide rates, instead of higher ones? What is different about today's force than yesterday's?"

the rest of the article did little to answer them, especially when so much was wrong with the article itself.

"Following World War II, to maintain commitments abroad, the United States drafted a standing army larger than ever before. To enhance retention and keep the U.S. military competitive with the private sector, President Dwight Eisenhower championed expanded access to housing and health care for service members and their families in his 1954 State of the Union address. Improvements to both followed in the years ahead."

Well, they had the draft in other wars all the way up to Vietnam. It omitted why the rate went down, and that is because during WWII, when a service member showed signs of mental health stress, they were sent back home. During the Korean War, they were treated by clinicians embedded with the troops. If they could return to duty after therapy, they did, otherwise, they were sent back home.

As for Vietnam, the DEROS deployments took care of that because when their year was up, they were on their way back home, before they could understand something was clearly wrong. When asked about any problems before discharge, they denied they had any problems so they could go home.

They also did not notice this article from U.S. Army Medial Department

Incidence of Mental Disorders
Rates of hospitalization for mental disorders in Army personnel during the postwar period (1920-30) ranged from 11 to 12 per 1,000 men per year.19 These rates included admissions for "mental alienation" (dementia praecox, manic depressive psychosis, general paresis, alcoholic and other organic psychoses, mental deficiency, constitutional psychopathic states, hypochondriasis) and various neurotic disorders (hysteria, neurasthenia, psychasthenia, psychoneurosis, neurocirculatory asthenia). The incidence of psychotic disorders during this period was from 2 to 3 per 1,000 per annum. Excluded from the preceding mental disease categories were admissions for neurological diseases, drug addiction, and acute and chronic alcoholism. Admissions for alcoholism alone during this 10-year period were from 7 to 8 per 1,000 per annum, a marked decrease from rates of approximately 16 per 1,000 per annum for alcohol admissions in the decade prior to World War I (1907-16) before the establishment of the National Prohibition Act. That mental disorders constituted a major medical problem in the postwar era is indicated by the following data:

1. Suicide was the leading cause of death in military personnel in this decade (over 0.5 per 1,000 strength per annum).

2. Mental disorders as a class were the largest cause for medical discharge with a rate of 6 to 7 per 1,000 strength per annum, which indicated that more than one-half of the admissions eventuated in discharge.

3. Dementia praecox was the leading single disease cause for medical discharge (2 to 3 per 1,000 strength per annum).

4. In general, mental disorders, excluding alcoholism and drug addiction, were first as a cause for discharge, fifth or sixth as a cause for hospital admissions, and third or fourth in producing loss of duty time for medical reasons.

5. Mental disorders were the leading cause for medical evacuation from oversea stations.

As for OEF and OIF, the increase in suicides was predicted by Wounded Times back in 2009, following the release of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

And this was part of that article on Wounded Times

Ever notice the vast majority of the men and women you command end up carrying out the mission they are given, fighting fiercely and showing great courage even though they are already carrying the wound inside of them? They fulfill their duty despite flashbacks and nightmares draining them because their duty comes first to them. Do you understand how much that takes for them to do that? Yet you think telling them their minds are not tough enough will solve the problem? What kind of a tough mind do you think they needed to have to fight on despite this killing pain inside of them?

As with everything else, facts are still facts, no matter if they are acknowledged or not.

"This relatively stable paradigm lasted until the beginning the 21st century and the dawn of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, when the suicide rate increased once more, eventually spiking at 29.7 per 100,000 in 2012. By February 2007, medical cost-cutting and rising numbers of traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses had overwhelmed the military."

They left out how Vietnam veterans came home and fought for all the research and funding going toward understanding PTSD. They left out how many "efforts" produced billions in increased funding, along with "awareness" at the same time suicides did in fact increase. Not just within the military, but among those in the veteran community.

And they got this wrong too!

While the Army's active duty suicide rate has dropped from the 2012 peak, it has remained around 20 to 30 per 100,000. While in the past, periods of war seem to have lowered suicide rates, that correlation became inverted first during the decades-long conflict in Vietnam and the almost-two-decade wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Correlation is not causation, but the current elevated rates appear to be indicative of a bedeviling new paradigm.

Naturally they omitted that in 2012 there were less serving because the size of the military was cut due to sequestration and the end of the War in Iraq. This is from PolitiFact in 2015.

In 2012, the Army had about 570,000 soldiers. Reductions over several years have taken it down to its current size of about 490,000. Rubio was referring to the Army’s announcement in July that it plans to cut the regular Army from 490,000 to 450,000 by fiscal year 2018, or a total of 40,000 positions.‎

They keep getting Vietnam wrong too, considering it was claiming lives of US service members since the 50's and the last to be killed came in 1975.

This is from the DOD yearly report on military suicides.

Add Active Duty with Reserve Components. It has averaged 500 a year since 2012. Nothing will ever change until reporters get serious about what they put out as facts!

Wounded Times predicted rise in suicides a decade ago...DOD still clueless

In 2009 I wrote "Comprehensive Soldier fitness will make it worse"

General Casey, now hear this, you cannot, repeat, cannot train your brain to prevent PTSD and until you understand this "Because it is scientifically proven, you can build resilience." does not equal the cause of PTSD, you will keep making it worse! Did the rise in suicides and attempted suicides offer you no clue that Battlemind didn't work? Apparently something told you it didn't or you'd still be pushing this. When you have a program in place to "train them to be resilient" beginning with telling them if they do not, it's their fault, what the hell did you and the other brass expect? Did you think they would listen to the rest of what the Battlemind program had to say to them? Are you out of your mind?

With all due respect, because I do believe you care about the men and women you command, this is just one more in a series of mistakes because it seems no one in the Pentagon or the upper rows of the food chain have a clue what causes PTSD.

While adversity does make some stronger, you cannot train them to do it. Life and character does that quite effectively on their own. Some will walk away stronger after traumatic events but one out of three humans will not. Some experts put the rate at one out of five walk away wounded but the best experts I've listened to since 1982 have put it at one out of three.

Do you think that this man could have "trained his brain" as well?

UK:WWII veteran finally diagnosed with PTSD

A D-DAY hero has been told he is suffering a stress related illness picked up in battle — 65 years AFTER he was the first Brit to storm an enemy beach.

WWII vet George McMahon, who was the first soldier on Sword Beach in Normandy, France, had revealed he is still suffering terrifying flashbacks from June 6, 1944.

And Army docs have told the 89-year-old war hero he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) picked up during WWII.

Mr McMahon's family first sought help from docs when the ex-soldier talked vividly about the war in the lead-up to the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

Mr McMahon of Kirk Ella, Hull, was then visited by the Service Personnel and Veterans' Agency — part of the Ministry of Defence — who said he was displaying PTSD symptoms.

The Scotland-born Army vet who served with The King's Regiment Army was awarded the Military Cross for storming two machine-guns.

Back then there were plenty of excuses to use for what happened to veterans but after Vietnam veterans came home and forced the wound to be treated, we ran out of excuses. How can you continue to dismiss what is so obvious? It is the nature of man, what is in their core, their empathy for others that is at the root of PTSD. I've talked to them long enough and enough of them to have understood this over 20 years ago. I also live with one.

I'm sick and tired of reading about what does not work being repeated. In all these years, people like me have already learned from the mistakes we made trying to help our husbands and others. To us, it wasn't a numbers game or a research project. This has meant our lives and the lives of the men we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with. Aside from that General Casey, I've spent countless hours attempting to undo the damage done because the troops are not being told what they need to hear in the first place.

I've held Marines in my arms crying because the military told them they were not strong enough and National Guardsmen told they were not cut out for combat. All of this because the military has been telling them it's their fault they didn't work hard enough to toughen their brains.

How many more suicides are you willing to live with? Has it not gotten thru to you yet that you are losing more men and women after combat than you do during it? This is only part of it because I doubt you have considered how many have committed suicide and tried it after they were discharged. You cannot order them to stop caring! You cannot order them to become callous or oblivious to the suffering of others. Between the members of their own unit to the innocent civilians that do end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, you cannot seriously expect them to just "get over it" and "toughen" their brains. These men and women walk away with their own pain compounded by the pain of others. This is what opens the door to PTSD and until you understand this is what the difference is, you will never get close enough to finding the best treatment for it and they will continue to pay for it.

Ever notice the vast majority of the men and women you command end up carrying out the mission they are given, fighting fiercely and showing great courage even though they are already carrying the wound inside of them? They fulfill their duty despite flashbacks and nightmares draining them because their duty comes first to them. Do you understand how much that takes for them to do that? Yet you think telling them their minds are not tough enough will solve the problem? What kind of a tough mind do you think they needed to have to fight on despite this killing pain inside of them?

I fully understand to you, I'm no one. I have been ignored by senators and congressmen, doctors and other brass for as long as I've been trying to help, so you are not the first. I've also been listened to by others trying to think outside the box, but more importantly to me, by the men and women seeking my help to understand this and their families. I tell them what you should have been telling them all along so that they know it's not their fault, they did not lack courage and they are not responsible for being wounded any more than they would have been to have been found by a bullet with their name on it.

And then I issued the prediction that should have been seen by all the experts as a warning of what was to come.

If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

I was right back then, still right now, while the DOD remains clearly wrong...and too many servicemembers remain choosing to die instead of fighting for their own lives.

This is the "headline" they are dealing with now.

U.S. military’s suicide rate for active-duty troops up over the past five years, Pentagon says

But the Pentagon must build better understanding of the effectiveness of its suicide-prevention efforts, she said. That can be done through examining pilot programs and seeing “what is working in the civilian sector and bringing it into the military as a promising practice and to measure the effectiveness.”

Too bad they have been saying the same F***ing thing for a decade!

Sec. of the Army said he is pushing "resilience training" when in fact it has been more responsible for military suicides and enforces the stigma of PTSD. Telling them they can train their brains to be mentally tough ends up telling them they are mentally weak. They won't admit they need help to a buddy that heard the same message. No one is held accountable and I just got off the phone with another Mom after he son committed suicide. woundedtimes.blogspot.com February 5, 2013

Why didn't the DOD know they would cause more suicides?

Why do Pentagon heads remain deaf, dumb and blind to the misery they spread?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 6, 2019

If you are guessing I am more angry than usual lately, you are correct. Too bad the leaders in this country are still delusional. It is almost as if pushing the "prevention" training has not worked after a decade, then they have to push it harder. As if something like that would ever make sense to rational people.

May 9, 2009 I wrote that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness would make it worse for those who serve and would increase suicides.

"If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them."

I was right and that should freak everyone out. Why? Because I am not in charge. I am not a paid expert with a long list of degrees. I was never in the military. Freak out because all I did was pay attention to them. Why didn't the ones in charge?

What we have seen ever since then was predicted, so no one should settle for "we did not know then" just as they should not settle for not knowing now.

The facts remain that the number of suicides has reached an all time high. The fact that the known suicides among OEF and OIF veterans has also remained high, even though they were trained to not do it, is the direct result of this malfunctioning preventive!

IT WAS THEIR JOB TO KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING. TO KNOW IF IT WOULD WORK BEFORE THEY PUSHED IT. TO HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO STOP DOING IT AS SOON AS MORE WERE COMMITTING SUICIDE!

Purdue University program taking a bite on suicides into poisoned apple

Battlemind is the poisoned apple

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 31, 2019

Purdue University is planning a conference on suicides tied to military life. The problem is, the seem to think that a program that failed miserably is a good place to start!

I have been slamming this Battlemind BS since 2008

Battlemind started almost a year ago and has done, nothing! Since then soldiers are still being discharge under "pre-existing" conditions, TBI is still getting confused with PTSD, they are still committing suicides and yes, homicides, and still being told they have to wait to have their wounded minds tended to. For all the "steps" taken to address the problem, it looks like they are still in training shoes learning to take baby steps, when they need a great pair of rocket roller blades! Give me a break!

This is a great example as to why this program should have been left to rot...

This comment was left on my blog for a post I did on 1st Sgt. Jeff McCkinney. Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The tragic story of 1st Sgt. Jeff McKinney": Hello. I read your article about the 1st Sgt. that recently committed suicide. I wanted to tell you my story. My husband was in the 278th TN National Guard and he committed suicide on May 16, 2008. Here is my story:http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2008/11/military_sees_rise_in_troop_su.htmlSincerely,Tracy Eiswert

Please, help me spread the word about veteran suicides! Send this link to everyone you know. P.S. The VA has denied all my appeals for a 100% rating................

This is what I wrote afterwards. 

Well, I watched the video in horror. At first as I listened to Tracy, I started to cry because she said, "no one told her" about PTSD. That's been the problem since Vietnam. People like me are hard to find. Let's face it, there is nothing glamorous or Google worthy when it comes to PTSD or trauma for that matter. Most of the people that need to know about all of this, need to know it well in advance of it coming into their family, but considering two thirds of the American people do not know what PTSD means, they are not about to go looking for information on it. I know what I know because my life depended on it when I met my husband 26 years ago.

Tracy's story was just one more reminder I didn't need that no matter how many hours I spend doing this, no matter how many videos, Power Points or posts I do, it does no good if people like Tracy have no idea what's available to help. Most of the emails I get come in the middle of the night from a veteran or a spouse after finding me by accident, either by a post or because of one of my videos. Yet if they were searching for sexy videos or comedies, they'd find what they were looking for right away. No matter what you Google, you can find it, but what you can't find is the miracle you're looking for when a life is on the line.

Let's face it, when it comes to PTSD, the government, as others have put it in the past, suck at what they do.

Watching the video on PBS I am even more convinced that Battle Mind is not only bad, it's dangerous. There is a Chaplain talking to a bunch of soldiers talking about getting angry, nightmares and flashbacks. His advice, based on Battle Mind, is to wait 90 days. Imagine that? After all, all the experts I've read over the last 26 years all seem to agree that if the symptoms of PTSD do not begin to fade in 30 days, they need to seek help. It appears the VA is 60 days too late along with everything else. (Is there any wonder why they won't hire me to work for them anymore?)

James Peak is also in this video. He denies that the rise in suicides is tied to combat. Isn't that remarkable considering that the news accounts of some of these suicidal veterans all have one thing in common. They all experienced combat and ended up with flashbacks, nightmares, along with all the other symptoms of PTSD but when Peak tries to tie it into nothing more than relationship problems and financial ones setting off depression, it's easy to hide it. Simply because PTSD ends up setting off depression and relationship problems and financial problems as well.

Battle Mind does not work and gives bogus advice. If it worked you'd see the number of attempted suicides and successful ones go down instead of up every year. Peak also denied that the redeployments increased the risk even though the report was released by the Army a couple of years ago, stating categorically that the risk of PTSD increased by 50% for each redeployment. At least there is a VA psychiatrist in this video saying that it has increased the risk.

As bad as we are treating the regular military, we are even worse at treating the National Guards men and women. They come home and are expected to just get back to normal life when there is nothing normal about life in combat for any of them.

The question is, how can people like me be paid attention to by the people in charge? It's impossible. Letters sent to congress go unanswered or they answer with a form letter. Even service organizations that are sent my videos ignore them. It's all backed up by research, news reports and living with it everyday plus doing the outreach work and listening to them very carefully. Some service organizations are using them and they are helping, which is a good thing, but how many accidental finds are out there searching for help right now?

The other point is that the local communities aren't paying attention either. If they think they have budget problems now, wait until they see family after family have to bury another National Guards man or woman because they didn't get the help they needed. Wait until yet another church holds a funeral for one that took their own life because the church refused to get involved in a family falling apart and a combat veteran suffered.

Service groups across the country are falling all over themselves trying to increase membership to stay active and pay their bills, but do they think of getting active when it comes to what the new generation of veterans need? Hell no! That would be too beneficial to their communities. I know. I've tried to get them to pay attention and have been ignored. It's not that I don't know people with the power to change all of this, they just won't listen.

Go to the link below and watch the video on what happened to Tracy's husband and know that everyday there are 18 more of them. We are losing over 6,000 a year to suicide and that number is expect to go up because the VA yet again is late but the veterans, well they were expected to show up on time to be sent into combat or they had to go to jail. Nice. Isn't it?

There are a lot of posts up on this program along with Comprehensive Soldier Fitness...another loser sold to every member of the military. On that one, I predicted in 2009 that suicides would increase..and they did. 

Both programs ended up with producing more suicides because they only became aware of bullshit instead of hearing the truth about what PTSD is and how they can heal.

If you are wondering how it is that I figured all this out way back then, but they are still living in denial, so am I. They are supposed to be the experts. All I do is pay attention like it really matters!

‘What IF We Ended Military and Veterans Suicide?’

Purdue University
Jeanne Norberg
July 29, 2019

The term “battlemind” initially was used by military to talk about the inner strength needed to face adversity, fear and hardship during combat. The application of the term then was broadened to take in psychological resiliency both during and after deployment.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The nation is grappling with service members and veterans who find it hard to cope with coming home. It affects their families and communities as well.

To address this challenge, the Military and Family Research Institute at Purdue University is hosting the 10th annual summit of "Battlemind to Home" on campus Oct. 8. Registration is open now, and early-bird pricing runs through Aug. 7. The “What IF We Ended Military and Veterans Suicide?” event is part of Purdue’s Ideas Festival, the centerpiece of the university’s Giant Leaps sesquicentennial campaign, which is a series of events that connect world-renowned speakers and Purdue expertise in a conversation on the most critical problems facing the world. One of the Ideas Festival’s themes is health, longevity and quality of life.

Legal, mental health and community leaders at the Battlemind summit will learn and share strategies to ease the transition from the battlefront to the home front for military personnel, veterans and their families. Previously held in Indianapolis attracting 340 attendees, this year the conference will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union's ballrooms. It is expected to draw participants from more than 100 organizations in Indiana and nearby states.

The opening addresses will be delivered by Conrad Washington, the deputy director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiative, who will talk about available programs and resources. In the afternoon Oz Sanchez, a former Marine and Navy Seal will address the conference. Injured in car-motorcycle accident, Sanchez is now a five-time world champion in the sport of handcycling under the Paralympic umbrella. The emcee will be Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David, whose 28 years of active duty and reserve military service included two post 9-11 deployments and three commands.
read it here

Hi Matthew,
I was reading about the upcoming Battlemind event and cringed. First, I applaud the spiritual aspect of helping them heal, however, modeling anything after the failure of Battlemind is a losing battle.

After extensive research on Battlemind, when it was introduced, I came to the conclusion it would do more harm than good. It turned out, I was right as evidence has shown.

That was followed by an equally repulsive attempt called “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness” which was also slammed by me in 2009. It also looks like I was right on that one too.

I have been doing this work for 37 years as if my life depended on it. That is because it does. I am married to a Vietnam veteran with PTSD.

Please, reexamine the “cure” before it is too late to discover it was a poisoned apple.

PTSD Awareness is watching them fall

Raising PTSD Awareness, hardly working

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 30, 2019

While it seems as if there are more people "raising awareness" on PTSD and suicides, than ever before, we need to recognize that it is hardly working. Once we accept that fact, then maybe we can change the outcome. Until we stop settling for something that is not working, nothing will change.

Back in 2008, I was at an event with the VA. I talked with a couple of mental health professionals, I once admired, until I asked them what they thought of "Battlemind." 

It was a program the DOD was using to get servicemembers to "train their brain" to become mentally tough. The results we astonishingly abysmal.

When they gave me the usual talking points as to why they were spreading the program out as much as possible following the DOD as a guide, I pointed out the results.

The reply from the "professionals" was "it is better than nothing."

Thirty-seven years ago, that answer may have been acceptable, since few knew what was going on with researchers working very hard on finding the best treatments. 

I know because I read their books with a dictionary at the local library month after month with as much free time as I could spend there. It was 1982 and we did not even have computers in our homes.

Now we have cellphones, putting the world in the palms of our hands, but as oblivious as most were back then, it seems to be accepted as trendy now.

I read stuff being shared all over social media and wonder if anyone has really given any of it any thought at all. Do they ever wonder how large the chain of domino knockdown is?

Sure, it is cool to watch stunts like this, but the result is, something that stood up...fell down.

This article sums it all up very well.

Statistics on PTSD in Veterans

U.S. News and World Report
By Elaine K. Howley, Contributor 
June 28, 2019

This article is based on reporting that features expert sources including Freda C. Lewis-Hall, MD, DFAPA; Janina Scarlet, PhD; Rand McClain, DO; Ken Yeager, PhD, LISW

AS GENERAL WILLIAM Tecumseh Sherman famously noted during the Civil War, “War is hell.” It’s hell for civilians caught in the cross-fire and can be hell for the political powers that petition for it. But most especially war can become an exceptionally cruel and lasting hell for the soldiers tasked with waging it.

Once called shell-shock, then Vietnam Veteran’s Disorder, a condition now referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder is common among military personnel who have served, and it, too, is considered a hellish condition by many people who have it. Though PTSD occurs at higher rates among military personnel than the general population, we now understand that it can develop in anyone who has experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.

How Common Is PTSD Among Veterans?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports that incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among veteran varies depending on which conflict a service member was involved with.

About 11 to 20 out of every 100 veterans (or between 11 and 20%) who served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have PTSD in a given year.

About 12 out of every 100 Gulf War Veterans (or 12%) have PTSD in a given year.

About 15 out of every 100 Vietnam veterans (15%) were currently diagnosed with PTSD when the most recent study of them (the National Vietnam Veteran Readjustment Study) was conducted in the late 1980s. It’s believed that 30% of Vietnam veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.

The article also had this.

These troubling statistics point to another complication of life after war for veterans – a lack of support and connection to others, Yeager says. “The whole idea of the band of brothers is a very real neurophysiological situation. You never feel more alive or more connected with people than you do when you’re in that combat field and I think for many vets combing back who’ve had their neurotransmitters firing at a very high rate, they struggle with ‘how do I find this again? Where can I get this kind of feeling alive?’”

read the rest of the article here

Should you wonder if it is worth it the next time you see something you want to share? Yes! Share what works. Share what is offering hope to those who have lost theirs. Share facts. Share real support. Then maybe we can run the knockdown of dominos in reverse and watch them all stand up. 

Groundhog Day: Deadly Decade Results

Deadly Decade Results

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 2, 2019


Today is Groundhog Day and it appears that everyone has retreated into their dens, covering their heads for a prolonged winter season. 

Groundhog Day - specifically Feb. 2 - traces its roots back to an ancient celebration of the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. According to legend, a sunny sky on that day signifies a stormy and cold second half of winter while a cloudy sky indicates the arrival of warm weather.

Not unlike the movie, it appears the day has been repeated far too many times.

This is a headline no one wanted to see and families did not want to change their lives.

Active-Duty Military Suicides at Record Highs in 2018

But when we read something like this, anyone paying attention knows that the answer is not attitudes like this.

Army spokeswoman Col. Kathleen Turner said the loss of any soldier or family member is a tragedy. "Like the rest of America, the Army continues to grapple with the loss of too many of our people to suicide. While the Army has made progress, more work needs to be done. We must continue to ensure commanders have the policies and resources they need to prevent suicides, that all leaders have the tools to identify soldiers who are suffering and to positively intervene, and that all soldiers view seeking mental health care as a sign of strength."

 While it is true that suicides have increased across America, there is something that is different with members of the military.

First, they were willing to endure all kinds of hardships and trained to save lives. That requires something above and beyond what civilians are willing to do for the sake of someone else.

As some point out the rise in suicides in the civilian population, it is no excuse for what has been going on.

We have seen a rise in suicides within law enforcement, firefighters and other emergency responders. They also valued the lives of others to the point they were willing to sacrifice their own.

Whenever someone tries to use part of the story, they are abdicating instead of educating.

So what does a person do when they know the answer, but cannot get anyone to listen? How is it that I predicted that suicides would increase way back a decade ago? The most pressing question is, if I knew it, then why didn't the people in charge? Why have they still failed to see it?

Well, for starters I have been emailing and calling members of Congress and reporters all the time and giving them the facts. They either respond with a form letter, as with Congress, or "thanks" but no thanks phone calls, as with reporters. Occasionally some have taken the time to listen, but that is the end of it.

As for the prediction of suicides increasing, here it is.

I fully understand to you, I'm no one. I have been ignored by senators and congressmen, doctors and other brass for as long as I've been trying to help, so you are not the first. I've also been listened to by others trying to think outside the box, but more importantly to me, by the men and women seeking my help to understand this and their families. I tell them what you should have been telling them all along so that they know it's not their fault, they did not lack courage and they are not responsible for being wounded any more than they would have been to have been found by a bullet with their name on it.
If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

For a long time, I have been deeply hurt by the fact a lot of people have simply stolen my work. Then I came to the point where getting credit, or even support, was pushed far behind the result I wanted to see. If I wanted them to heal more than anything else, I had to put that mission first.

If you are among the people using my work and taking the credit, you have my permission to do it. This is beyond my ego. I am approaching 60 and have been doing this since the age of 23. While I know what has failed, like the "resilience training," I also know what saved lives and restored hope.

There is no condition when it should ever become a matter of slogan above substance, especially when the subject is those who put their lives on the line for everyone else.

If you want to make a difference, here is where you  begin.

Stop resilience training and begin educating what PTSD is so that the stigma is killed off and they can live long enough to heal it.

Remind them that they are not a victim of anything. They are survivors of everything that they had to go through doing their jobs.

Let them know that PTSD stops gaining strength when they begin to fight back.

Support what works and stop supporting what failed with your money. Suicide Awareness has failed and that has been proven by the facts of the rise of suicides in every walk of life. What works is the truth that they can heal.

The truth of what makes these people of service experiencing a higher rate of suffering, needs to be something they are well aware of.

Support Peer Support efforts that offer true hope and help, side by side with them. This has to be done in small groups, much like AA, and not operating for the glorification of those looking to make fame for themselves.

If we do not change what we are doing, then we will not change the outcome in the right way. We will simply allow more and more to choose death after risking their lives to prevent the deaths of others.

UPDATE and sums things up nicely.

(CNN) — Punxsutawney Phil predicts spring will come early. Don't get too excited, though -- he's usually wrong.

Have you heard enough excuses for veterans killing themselves yet?

When will the VA and DOD admit the awful truth?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 5, 2018

Yet again, a report came out about how bad it is for our veterans when they come home. Younger veterans are committing suicide in higher percentages, but the facts are missing.

The awful truth is they did not just fail this year, or last year, or five years ago, or even a decade ago. They failed for over 4 of them.

Billions spent every year and billions made by businesses and charities making a profit off of suicides. That should have been a clue but contracts continued to be written and paid for, along with funerals.

Police end up having to respond to someone finding a dead body, as well as respond when one of them is in a mental health crisis and someone called to get them help, only to have to draw their weapons against a veteran they came to help. That happened at least every week in 2017.

This year, there were 22 public suicides where veterans ended their private hell while making a point to let people be aware of what they had driven them to that point. Hoping like hell that someone would pay attention and do something before another veteran lost their life to suicide.

They saw more and more kicked out of the military. 2,300,000 at last count, right after more speeches about how the DOD claimed they were ready to help them heal.

Billions spent on "prevention training" that every member of the military had to take, yet every branch, every rank, every sex, every age group, lives though combat but dies afterwards by their own hands.

We see National Guards and Reservists, return home without a clue they can heal, so they lose hope before they even try to take control of their lives again.

How much are we willing to see while so many are oblivious to the charade? What expert has been fired for incompetence? What business has had to pay back the money they made off what they failed to deliver on? What charity has been held accountable for passing a slogan off as anything but something to benefit themselves?

It isn't as if they had no way of knowing.

Here is a direct quote from Wounded Times posted on May 29, 2009 about how it should have been known that if the DOD pushed resilience training, suicides would increase.

If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

Yes, I predicted all this because I paid attention. I read reports and I listened to the veterans. No, I was not foolish enough to think the DOD or any of the "experts" would ever listen to someone like me, so not shocked this was ignored. The shocking thing is, they still have not figured it out!!!

It didn't matter that the experts over at RAND Corp investigated this "training" in 2013 and showed why it would not work. Not bad enough that in 2012, suicides hit over 500, or even bad enough they have remained an average of 500 a year since then. It was not even bad enough for them to grasp the concept these men and women were ready to die to save someone else, but did not seek help to save their own lives.

No, none of it was bad enough and today, we have a report where the VA and the DOD still say they have no clue!

Rising Suicide Rates Among Younger Veterans Trigger Alarm Bells at VA

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
December 4, 2018

Suicide rates among veterans 34 and younger have spiked in the last two years, leading the Department of Veterans Affairs to focus more on the 18-to-34-year-old age group than civilian programs for suicide prevention do, a top VA official said Tuesday.

She said another factor that has emerged in analyzing recent statistics has been the suicide rate among National Guard and Reserve veterans who never deployed to a combat zone.

Nearly four of the 20 veteran suicides a day were among National Guard and Reserve members who may have experienced trauma in national disaster duty, but were never in a combat zone, she added.

The number of suicides by veterans of all generations averages 22 each day. But "when we break down the numbers, the national numbers for veterans suicides, we're seeing an increased rate within 18-to-34-year-olds," said Dr. Keita Franklin, the VA's national director of suicide prevention.read the rest here

The thing to pay close attention to is this part

Franklin, who previously served as the Pentagon's Defense Suicide Prevention Office director, also noted that her civilian counterparts in suicide prevention are not facing the same rates of female suicides. "The fact that the female [veteran] rate is 1.8 times higher than their non-veteran counterpart is something we're concerned about."

I won a damn award back in 2008 for a video I did about National Guards and Reservists trying to deal with PTSD! So, if I knew, then why the hell didn't they know and do something about it? Like maybe what people like me had been doing for decades?

Did anyone ask her about how suicides increased within the military and in the veterans' community and they still do not know why? Did anyone ask how it is that after over a decade of "efforts" by the DOD and the VA, this is the outcome?

Notice the number of veterans living has dropped by over 4 million, but the rate went up? Now consider how many years, how many times we have heard "one too many" and how they were focused on doing something about it.

This is from the DOD up to June of this year.

And it is projected to remain about 500 for this year too when you look at the report, then factor in they have revised the numbers in the latest release.

Did anyone ask how it is there were thousands of "awareness raisers" running around the country collected over a billion per year and the suicides still happen even though the veterans are fully aware of all of it?

It is time for us to demand answers, since Congress won't and reporters will not. How much longer are we going to all all of this to go on? When do we actually stand up and fight for the men and women who fight all of our battles?

I am tired of having to try to explain all of this to families when it is too late to do them any good, and then have some "experts" say they still do not know what the hell to do!!! We've known for over 4 decades! When will they? They won't as long as we just let them get away with saying whatever they want.

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

Six years later, Suicides After War

Facebook let me know about something I put up six years ago.

Shocker for a couple of reasons. The first is, I hardly ever think about this book and the other is, the numbers are far worse than they were back then.

If you haven't heard of this book, that is Ok since a lot of people haven't. One person liked it.

James G. Young

5.0 out of 5 starsAwesome book

May 14, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

If you have not read anything Kathie has written you are at a major disadvantage when discussing PTSD. She has a first hand account of dealing with this herself as the wife of a Nam vet, but then devoting her life to understanding the dilemma and helping others understand it as well. I consider Kathie a highly knowledgable contact with regards to this subject and have consulted her many times.

Kathie truly has the inside pulse in understanding the issues here, the denial of our government and the failures of the administrations to come to grips with how best to deal with it. Our government is trying to find a series of magic bullets (medications) that some practitioners hand out like candy because they have nothing else to give and lack the compassion needed.

Straightforward, if you haven't read this book or spoken to Kathie you are at a major disadvantage. Great Book Kathie, well written and researched, should be made mandatory reading for anyone dealing with or discussing PTSD. ....

Since I write so much on the subject of PTSD and suicides, I forget a lot of things I've written, but the thing is, I remember most of their stories. I had to go back and take a look at this book. Totally sadden by the fact that the military and the VA still has not figured out what people like me learned decades ago.

We learned because it was all too personal to us. It was not just something to research, but it was our lives. What we failed to do, meant someone we loved would suffer, and usually, that meant our entire family. What we succeeded at is what kept us going. Knowing that the other side of all of this is beyond measure. Seeing these magnificent men and women heal is the reason I get up every morning.

Sure it would be great to not have to work a regular job and the do this the rest of the day, but I really think that is one of the biggest reasons I find it so reprehensible that so many are making money, and having fun, because they talk about veterans committing suicide.

We lived it. We have seen so many coffins filled that when I did the first video on suicides back in 2007, I had to call the President of Point Man to help me recover. The heartbreak was tearing me apart.


Anyway, tonight I am sitting here, reminded yet again, of how much we learned over all these years, and how it is all being thrown away, including the veterans all these people claim to be working so hard for. 


From THE WARRIOR SAW, Suicides After War

By the time I finished writing FOR THE LOVE OF JACK, HIS WAR MY BATTLE in 2002, troops had been in Afghanistan for months and there was only talk of sending more into Iraq.  My heart was already breaking knowing what was coming for far too many of the war fighters and their families. Remembering what it was like to feel alone with this struggle, I tried to do something about it for others.  

I started blogs and websites but was getting angry more about the fact I had to search for hours just to find the few stories being covered.  That’s when I decided that I would put all their stories in one place so that no one felt as if they were the only going through all of this.  It was also in an attempt to avert what happened to Vietnam veterans like my husband suffering from PTSD along with the secret we thought we had to keep.  

Wounded Times Blog began in August of 2007, had over 18,000 posts by the time this book was finished and was viewed over 1 million times. There are 2,727 posts on Combat and PTSD, 4,822 on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and 988 on military suicides.

The stigma of PTSD has always been a barrier to getting the help they needed to heal, which was obvious, but what most people did not know was it added to their suffering when they believed it was their fault they had it and there was something “wrong” with them.

In October of 2007 psychiatrists with the American Psychiatric Association published a study on stigma and found “RESULTS: Stigma was portrayed as a major disadvantage to treatment seeking. Yet most participants indicated that people would be supportive of treatment seeking. Reducing symptoms was a major advantage of care. Barriers, especially those viewed as "self-induced," such as pride, not being able to ask for help, and not being able to admit to having a problem, were considered major impediments. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that interventions developed to engage veterans in care must be directed toward cognitive factors that motivate treatment seeking. “

By the time that study was released I had been putting videos up on YouTube for a year to make sure veterans knew what PTSD was all about and do it in terms that put it simply without all the psychiatric jargon I had to suffer reading when there was absolutely nothing else to learn from.  No self-help books in the 80’s, no Internet in homes and no one in the civilian world were talking about any of this.

So why are we reading reports on Military Suicides reaching an all time high in 2012 after all these years? Because average people had no way of knowing what it was, what to do about it and very few knew how to save their lives.  We relied on the media to inform us and they let us down.

How do I begin to tell you the story of what happens after war when too few even know what it is like for them during it?  We didn’t pay attention when our parents and grandparents came home and wanted to tell us stories while we were growing up.  We got bored.  It didn’t dawn on me that while I was reading about the Korean War and WWII in school, I had veterans of those wars in my own family.  It was not until I grew up and fell in love with a Vietnam veteran in 1982 that I started to care enough to learn.

Maybe that is the way to start this.  To make it all personal to you dear reader you need to know the men and women just as much as you need to know the numbers.  You need to know where we are, how we got here and what can be done about it. So we’ll start with some numbers.

The Gulf War lasted six months.  It claimed the lives of 382 US troops. Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, 2001-2013 has claimed 2,178 US troops so far. 310 of them were killed in 2012. Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2012 had claimed 4,486 US troops. 1 was killed in 2012. Yet the deadliest year was in 2012 and claimed more lives connected to military service than any other year, but their deaths were by their own hands. 

This nation has spent about a billion dollars on efforts to prevent suicides but after all these years evidence proves they did not work.  Congress kept funding programs no matter what happened and then they had to hold countless hearings listening to family members plead with them to do something about war fighters killing themselves.

These are the deaths from suicides for 2012.

Army 182

Army National Guards 96

Army Reserves 47

Marines 48

Air Force 59

Navy 60

492 total reported suicides from one year alone. 

Added onto those suicides came news that at least 22 veterans take their own lives everyday. Every major media outlet continued to use the wrong numbers while declaring headlines like “the worst year” when their numbers were only 349.  CNN had the Army total right but left out the other branches. “325 Army Suicides in 2012 a record” reported by Tom Watkins and Maggie Schneider on February 2, 2013. The issue there is it left people wondering about the others in the Marines, Marine Reservists, Navy, Air Force and Air National Guards. 

In February those numbers were revised to add a soldier to the 7 reported in January another Army National Guardsman. This news was buried in the report from the Department of Defense news release for January suicides, 19 “potential” soldiers, 6 Army National Guardsmen and 8 Army Reservists.

That is where we are.  How did we get here? What went so wrong they were surviving in combat but not coming home? How do we change what happens to them so they stop finding life more dangerous here than it was in combat? This war after war requires something that cannot be purchased like the newest and latest weapon the Pentagon drools over. It requires something that is freely given because it was received freely.  It requires us to make the difference for them.

Bill Gates didn’t start Microsoft until 1975 and most households did not have a personal computer until the 90’s.  Things were going on the same as they are now only people didn’t have Facebook to share their heartaches or find support groups to turn to.  There was no way to track stories across the country because no one was going to subscribe to every newspaper and there were a lot more of them back then.  National news on TV was actually national news but time limits didn’t allow for anything more than what producers considered the top stories while now we have 24-7 cable news stations.  The producers of these “shows” don’t seem too interested in the veterans because stunningly most Americans thought the troops were out of Afghanistan a long time ago.

If you’re wondering why suicides went up after the Suicide Prevention Hotline went into effect, after bills were passed by Congress, which there were many, after the Department of Defense put into practice prevention programs beginning with Battlemind replaced by “Resilience Training” then you are not alone.  The truth is, after over 40 years of researching what combat does to those we send, the Congress, Department of Defense, the VA and “mental health professionals” have arrived to fight this enemy unarmed.

If you want to read it, go to the link but if you have been reading this site since 2007, when it went up, you probably know everything in the book already.

All of this goes into why I started PTSD Patrol. Someone has to be reminding all of you that you are so worth every effort, and a hell of lot more than you have been getting.

So I will leave this post with this message...Let this be your alive day! (PS old video when the VA said it was 18 veterans committing suicide. We know the truth better now than we did back then.)