Military brass: Outreach essential to suicide prevention
Special to the News
Updated: July 16, 2010 9:25 a.m.
Preventing suicide among service members and veterans calls for comprehensive education and communication, Army Col. Robert W. Saum, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said this week.
Testifying before the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Saum said the Department of Defense’s approach to suicide prevention is “multi-pronged,” and outreach to troops, veterans and their families is essential.
“[The department] has developed many resources and tools for service members, veterans and families,” Saum said in a written statement. “However, we realize utilization of these resources is dependent upon prevention education and communication about their existence.”
Although psychological treatment and counseling are available for those on the brink of suicide, he said, intervention programs also are in place to address stressors that may lead to suicide. Such programs include counseling for substance abuse and for relationship, legal, work and financial issues.
Saum stressed the importance of Defense Department collaboration with Veterans Affairs and private-sector organizations. The colonel’s organization serves as a central point of coordination for these groups, he said.
read more here
Outreach essential to suicide prevention
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Dryhootch offers counseling to those returning from war
Dryhootch offers counseling to those returning from war
Posted: July 25, 2010
No one could relate to Manuel "Manny" Mora when he returned home from the Iraq war.
His mother couldn't reach him, and neither could his father. Never mind any of his friends.
"I had major anger issues," said the four-year Army veteran, who served in Baghdad for a year.
"They prep you to go to war, but coming back they don't show you how to live afterwards. My friends and family saw a side of me that they never saw before. They were freaked out."
He also didn't recognize himself.
"I ended up being homeless. I had to hustle in the street to make it for another day or week," the 27-year-old confides. "There are some things that I did that I'm not too proud of."
Mora, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is among a growing number of new-generation vets returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who are struggling to gain a foothold on life.
Unable to connect with the outside world, Mora and others are turning to those who know them best: other veterans.
"Veterans will talk to other veterans," said Bob Curry, a Vietnam War vet who is one of the founders of Dryhootch.
The nonprofit organization, which serves as a safety net for veterans returning from the combat zone, has a particular eye on preventing suicide.
read more here
Dryhootch offers counseling to those returning from war
Posted: July 25, 2010
No one could relate to Manuel "Manny" Mora when he returned home from the Iraq war.
His mother couldn't reach him, and neither could his father. Never mind any of his friends.
"I had major anger issues," said the four-year Army veteran, who served in Baghdad for a year.
"They prep you to go to war, but coming back they don't show you how to live afterwards. My friends and family saw a side of me that they never saw before. They were freaked out."
He also didn't recognize himself.
"I ended up being homeless. I had to hustle in the street to make it for another day or week," the 27-year-old confides. "There are some things that I did that I'm not too proud of."
Mora, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is among a growing number of new-generation vets returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who are struggling to gain a foothold on life.
Unable to connect with the outside world, Mora and others are turning to those who know them best: other veterans.
"Veterans will talk to other veterans," said Bob Curry, a Vietnam War vet who is one of the founders of Dryhootch.
The nonprofit organization, which serves as a safety net for veterans returning from the combat zone, has a particular eye on preventing suicide.
read more here
Dryhootch offers counseling to those returning from war
Two missing sailors in Afghanistan, one dead other still alive
Taliban: One U.S. service member is dead, other is alive in Afghanistan
By Joshua Partlow and Javed Hamdard
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, July 25, 2010; 10:50 AM
KABUL--One U.S. Navy service member was killed in a shoot-out with Taliban insurgents in Logar province and the other is alive and in insurgent custody, a Taliban spokesman and Afghan officials said on Sunday.
NATO officials have not confirmed these reports and still characterize the two men as missing since they drove off their Kabul base Friday.
By Joshua Partlow and Javed Hamdard
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, July 25, 2010; 10:50 AM
KABUL--One U.S. Navy service member was killed in a shoot-out with Taliban insurgents in Logar province and the other is alive and in insurgent custody, a Taliban spokesman and Afghan officials said on Sunday.
NATO officials have not confirmed these reports and still characterize the two men as missing since they drove off their Kabul base Friday.
Afghan police and army commanders in Logar said in telephone interviews that U.S. troops have recovered the bodies of one of the sailors and are searching cars and houses for the surviving one.
read more here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072500719.html
Guard and Reserve, took their own lives in June, a rate of one a day
National Guard and Reserve suicide rates climbing
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Suicides among Army and Air National Guard and Reserve troops have spiked this year, and the military is at a loss to explain why.
Sixty-five members of the Guard and Reserve took their own lives during the first six months of 2010, compared with 42 for the same period in 2009. The grim tally is further evidence that suicides continue to plague the military even though it's stepped up prevention efforts through counseling and mental health awareness programs.
"Suicides among military personnel and veterans are at an epidemic rate, and it's getting worse," said Tim Embree, a former Marine who served two tours in Iraq and is now a legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group.
The Army recently announced that 32 soldiers, including 11 in the Guard and Reserve, took their own lives in June, a rate of one a day and a level not seen since the Vietnam War, according to the military.
Seven of the suicides occurred in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The worrisome trend is reflected in Missouri, where the state Army and Air National Guards have suffered six suicides so far this year, their highest total in a decade.
They account for nearly a quarter of the 27 suicides experienced since the Missouri Guard started keeping records in 2001.
"We're all devastated," said Col. Gary Gilmore, joint force chaplain for the Missouri Guard. "From their battle buddy right next to them all the way up the chain, each one has a tremendous personal impact and sense of loss."
Read more: National Guard and Reserve suicide rates climbing
This is why I need your help. They are dying, families are falling apart and none of it has to happen.
Between the two blogs I have there are over 20,000 posts. In the almost three years this blog has been up, there are 9,928 posts. This one makes 9,929. Of these there are 185 post on Military Suicides, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 2472, plus these;
PTSD (874)
PTSD advocate (8)
PTSD After Trauma (7)
PTSD and crimes (2)
PTSD and domestic violence (4)
PTSD and families (11)
PTSD and heart disease (1)
PTSD and homeless (1)
PTSD and military (4)
PTSD and police officers (5)
PTSD and suicide (11)
PTSD awareness (17)
PTSD Bill (1)
PTSD books (15)
PTSD CD (1)
PTSD claims (6)
PTSD clinic (1)
PTSD comes from bad training (1)
PTSD denial (2)
PTSD documentary (3)
PTSD drug (2)
PTSD education (2)
PTSD Final Battle of War (2)
PTSD firefighter (1)
PTSD gun owners (1)
PTSD honor (1)
PTSD I Grieve (6)
PTSD in children (1)
PTSD in firefighters (1)
PTSD in theater (1)
PTSD It's All About Soul (1)
PTSD linked to heart attacks (1)
PTSD marriages (1)
PTSD medal (1)
PTSD medications (9)
PTSD mobile center (1)
PTSD new claim rules (1)
PTSD Not God's Judgment video (2)
ptsd on trial (80)
PTSD prevention (2)
PTSD programs (1)
PTSD redeployed (5)
PTSD research (52)
PTSD screening (1)
PTSD secondary stressor (2)
PTSD service dogs (16)
PTSD signs (1)
PTSD siminar (1)
PTSD study (7)
PTSD support (17)
PTSD symptoms (1)
PTSD treatments (2)
PTSD veteran (2)
PTSD veterans in jail (4)
PTSD video (54)
PTSD web site (1)
PTSD Women’s and Family Support Group (1)
PTSD-TBI Guaranteed Review for Heroes Act (1)
In 2002 I self-published a book on living with PTSD For The Love of Jack. In 2005 I started to make videos so that no one would ever have to feel alone, hopeless or neglected ever again. While you see posts from 2005 on Screaming in an Empty Room, there were a lot more blogs and websites. Keep in mind I began this work in 1982. None of this has to happen!
I track the reports from across the country for one simple reason. It connects people so they can read about things happening all across the nation. If people think there is only one story out there about a soldier committing suicide, a veteran going homeless, a family falling apart, then they tend to not pay that much attention to it, yet when they read thousands of stories, they finally understand this is a huge story.
While readers of this blog are fully aware of my financial problems, that is not what I'm asking for help with right now. I'm asking you to send the links of my videos and my blog to everyone you know! Don't wait for someone else to help. The "powers that be" won't listen to someone like me because I have no money, no power behind me. I know I can't save all of them, can't keep every family together but I've managed to save a lot of them including my own. I don't just study this. I don't just track it. It's my life and I'll be damned if I don't try to give someone the same outcome I have today.
Two firefighters killed in Bridgeport CT
2 Conn. Firefighters Killed at Scene of House Fire
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (July 24) - Officials say two firefighters died while battling a house fire in Connecticut.
Bridgeport Deputy Fire Chief Robert Petrucelli says the two men were found unconscious Saturday on the top floor of the three-story house after they sent out mayday calls.
Steven Velazquez and Michael Baik were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Officials say Velazquez and Baik were searching for people in need of rescue and ventilating the house.
read more here
2 Conn Firefighters Killed at Scene of House Fire
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (July 24) - Officials say two firefighters died while battling a house fire in Connecticut.
Bridgeport Deputy Fire Chief Robert Petrucelli says the two men were found unconscious Saturday on the top floor of the three-story house after they sent out mayday calls.
Steven Velazquez and Michael Baik were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Officials say Velazquez and Baik were searching for people in need of rescue and ventilating the house.
read more here
2 Conn Firefighters Killed at Scene of House Fire
Man Found Dying in Road
Man Found Dying in Road; Police Release New Information
HENNING, MINN. - Authorities in Otter Tail county released new information Thursday, after a man was found lying in the road near Henning and dies from his injuries.
Dajun Honer's cause of death was trauma to the head, according to the Henning Police Department.
Honer, 31 was found Sunday lying in the traffic lane of State Highway 210 on the south east edge of Henning. He was taken to an area hospital where he later died of his injuries. No vehicle was found near Honer's body.
According to information released Thursday, Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office is conducting a forensic search of a 2005 Chevrolet Impala that Honer had been traveling in before being found, lying on an overpass on Highway 210.
read more here
Man Found Dying in Road
HENNING, MINN. - Authorities in Otter Tail county released new information Thursday, after a man was found lying in the road near Henning and dies from his injuries.
Dajun Honer's cause of death was trauma to the head, according to the Henning Police Department.
Honer, 31 was found Sunday lying in the traffic lane of State Highway 210 on the south east edge of Henning. He was taken to an area hospital where he later died of his injuries. No vehicle was found near Honer's body.
According to information released Thursday, Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office is conducting a forensic search of a 2005 Chevrolet Impala that Honer had been traveling in before being found, lying on an overpass on Highway 210.
read more here
Man Found Dying in Road
Soldier killed after being swept away by levee break in Afghanistan
Soldier killed after being swept away by current
© 2010 The Associated Press
July 24, 2010, 3:37PM
EL PASO, Texas — A soldier from El Paso has died from injuries suffered when he was swept away by the current when a levee broke near his military vehicle in Paktika, Afghanistan.
The death Friday of Army Pfc. James J. Oquin, 20, was not combat related, according to statements from the Department of Defense and Fort Campbell, Ky.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7123330.html
© 2010 The Associated Press
July 24, 2010, 3:37PM
EL PASO, Texas — A soldier from El Paso has died from injuries suffered when he was swept away by the current when a levee broke near his military vehicle in Paktika, Afghanistan.
The death Friday of Army Pfc. James J. Oquin, 20, was not combat related, according to statements from the Department of Defense and Fort Campbell, Ky.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7123330.html
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Dam fails in eastern Iowa, causing massive flooding
Dam fails in eastern Iowa, causing massive flooding
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 24, 2010 5:58 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A dam failed in eastern Iowa on Saturday, forcing residents nearby to flee
National Weather Service reported a 30-foot-wide gap in the berm alongside the dam
The breach was caused by "massive rain" of 10 inches in 12 hours, officials say
Hopkinton, population 700, is evacuated and Monticello under flood warning
(CNN) -- A dam on an eastern Iowa lake suffered a "catastrophic" failure Saturday, sending a massive amount of water into nearby communities and forcing residents to flee, officials said.
The Lake Delhi dam, about 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids, failed as a result of "massive rain -- a very unusually high amount this season," according to Jim Flansburg, communications director for Gov. Chet Culver.
Culver told CNN that nearly 10 inches of rain had recently fallen in a 12-hour period in the area and was "too much water for the dam to hold."
read more here
Dam fails in eastern Iowa
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 24, 2010 5:58 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A dam failed in eastern Iowa on Saturday, forcing residents nearby to flee
National Weather Service reported a 30-foot-wide gap in the berm alongside the dam
The breach was caused by "massive rain" of 10 inches in 12 hours, officials say
Hopkinton, population 700, is evacuated and Monticello under flood warning
(CNN) -- A dam on an eastern Iowa lake suffered a "catastrophic" failure Saturday, sending a massive amount of water into nearby communities and forcing residents to flee, officials said.
The Lake Delhi dam, about 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids, failed as a result of "massive rain -- a very unusually high amount this season," according to Jim Flansburg, communications director for Gov. Chet Culver.
Culver told CNN that nearly 10 inches of rain had recently fallen in a 12-hour period in the area and was "too much water for the dam to hold."
read more here
Dam fails in eastern Iowa
NO PTSD IN IDF, JEWS IMMUNE TO MENTAL ILLNESS?
It's a human condition that often follows after traumatic events. Considering when you read the Bible and the ancient Hebrews accounts of war and the aftermath, you can clearly see all the suffering we now call PTSD. America is not the only country trying to deal with this. Australia, Canada and the UK list many problems taking care of veterans. India has a huge suicide problem and then there are many parts of Africa we occasionally read about. The USA has a higher rate for one simple reason, more warriors.
Since the war of 1812, and our own Civil War, we've been fighting for another nation in their time of need. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, the list seems endless and there has never really been a time when our troops have not been needed somewhere for some reason. North Korea has a huge military but do you see them go anywhere? Thank God they don't. Russia has a huge military but has had to do very little with them since Georgia. With all the bombings and this history of Israel, maybe they all have it in one way or another? Maybe they just have a different way of treating them after trauma?
Civilians here in normal daily life know that if you have crisis teams respond soon after an event, it often gets ahead of what PTSD can do. Maybe that has more to do with it than anything else?
But it looks as if it very well may be the case,,,,
In all the years I've been writing about PTSD, one of the factors in doing this was to discover why I didn't have PTSD. Two conclusions from living my life. One is that my big Greek family talked everything to death. No matter what trauma or crisis I faced, I was able to talk until I had nothing more to say and I knew I was loved as they listened. The other is the depth of my faith and my understanding of a Loving God. This report on Israel's claim supports what my life has already shown and many experts have agreed with.
The opportunity to talk to someone you know won't judge you so that you can make sense out of the trauma and find peace with it and the sense that you are not alone in this world with a faith to help you heal. Trauma strikes the emotional part of the brain and it is my belief that is where the soul lives. Heal that part and you heal the person.
Read this whole article and then know that when it comes to taking care of the troops,we're a lot better at taking care of an average citizen after a car accident than we are at taking care of them.
Since the war of 1812, and our own Civil War, we've been fighting for another nation in their time of need. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, the list seems endless and there has never really been a time when our troops have not been needed somewhere for some reason. North Korea has a huge military but do you see them go anywhere? Thank God they don't. Russia has a huge military but has had to do very little with them since Georgia. With all the bombings and this history of Israel, maybe they all have it in one way or another? Maybe they just have a different way of treating them after trauma?
Civilians here in normal daily life know that if you have crisis teams respond soon after an event, it often gets ahead of what PTSD can do. Maybe that has more to do with it than anything else?
But it looks as if it very well may be the case,,,,
One note made in the study involved the quality of officers. The Israeli study indicated that their officers were more aware of the condition of troops under their command, were less adversarial and elitist than their American counterparts. Israeli officers got treatment for soldiers much quicker than Americans in similar situations.
The last significant combat Israeli troops had seen was nearly as long ago as the Vietnam War. Though a case may be made for no useful comparison between combat exposure, even as admitted in the study, Israeli forces inside their own country and Americans, sometimes fighting year after year with tens of thousands of casualties, fighting at the ends of the earth, some issues may be useful, when seen above the smokescreen of hubris and bravado from Tel Aviv.
In all the years I've been writing about PTSD, one of the factors in doing this was to discover why I didn't have PTSD. Two conclusions from living my life. One is that my big Greek family talked everything to death. No matter what trauma or crisis I faced, I was able to talk until I had nothing more to say and I knew I was loved as they listened. The other is the depth of my faith and my understanding of a Loving God. This report on Israel's claim supports what my life has already shown and many experts have agreed with.
The opportunity to talk to someone you know won't judge you so that you can make sense out of the trauma and find peace with it and the sense that you are not alone in this world with a faith to help you heal. Trauma strikes the emotional part of the brain and it is my belief that is where the soul lives. Heal that part and you heal the person.
Read this whole article and then know that when it comes to taking care of the troops,we're a lot better at taking care of an average citizen after a car accident than we are at taking care of them.
GORDON DUFF: ISRAEL CLAIMS “NO PTSD IN IDF, JEWS IMMUNE TO MENTAL ILLNESS”
STUDY COMPARES “RESETTLING PALESTINIANS” WITH WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
Is this Israeli arrogance or are there genuine problems with, not only America’s military but culture as well? Are both true? How is being a Jew serving in Israel’s military, more conducive to protecting soldiers from combat stress? Why are Americans, in combat across the Middle East, fighting securing Israeli interests in the region, subject to much higher rates of Post Traumatic Stress than Israeli’s in action against their own citizens?
If America brought her military home and forcibly started rounding up Catholics in a 21st century “trail of tears, perhaps resettling them to North Dakota, in league with Canada, walling them in to keep out building materials and twinkies…..or are there other factors that have caused up to 25% of American troops on active duty to require anti-psychotic medications?
Today’s Israeli National News Service quoted a study on PTSD from BaMachaneh, the Israeli version of Stars and Stripes stating that IDF soldiers don’t get PTSD due to combat, making them vastly superior to their American counterparts. The IDF study cites that up to 30% of American veterans and active duty alike, suffer flashbacks, outbursts of anger and a host of other symptoms which do not plague Jews who are subjected to similar combat circumstances.Israeli’s returning from service, though Israel has never fought a protracted conflict, have, not only job guarantees and full socialized medicine but extensive subsidy for education, housing and subsistence for life, even without disability or even wartime service at all. The United States pays this for Israeli troops but won’t pay this for their own, American soldiers, some of whom have spent 4 or more years deployed.
read more here
NO PTSD IN IDF, JEWS IMMUNE TO MENTAL ILLNESS
Two soldiers missing in Afghanistan, one feared dead
NATO: 2 American troops missing in Afghanistan
By Robert H. Reid - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 24, 2010 11:30:56 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. troops are missing in eastern Afghanistan, a military official said Saturday. An Afghan official said one may have been killed and the other taken hostage by the Taliban.
A NATO statement Saturday said the two service members left their compound the previous day in Kabul but did not return.
read more here
2 American troops missing in Afghanistan
By Robert H. Reid - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 24, 2010 11:30:56 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. troops are missing in eastern Afghanistan, a military official said Saturday. An Afghan official said one may have been killed and the other taken hostage by the Taliban.
A NATO statement Saturday said the two service members left their compound the previous day in Kabul but did not return.
read more here
2 American troops missing in Afghanistan
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