Self-reliance biggest barrier to preventing military suicides

Self-reliance biggest barrier to preventing military suicides in a nutshell. They get it done no matter what "it" is, no matter what they're going through because of the guy standing next to them. Use whatever reason you want but the bottom line is they do it for each other, plain and simple. Oh sure, patriotism, county and the rest play a role in why they join but it is the members of their "family" in harms way they are willing to take a bullet for. Not for politicians and often, not even for the reasons they were given behind them having to go into combat. We have to face that too often politicians lie for whatever reason they have but they are not the ones who have to go. They send others to put their lives on the line and our troops pray to God that the reason is worth their lives and all the sacrifices they make. They leave that part up to history to figure out because today their friends are counting on them as much as they are counting on them.

Resiliency training bullshit is great for getting them from one fight to another but most make it home and then fall apart. It is not that suddenly they get hit with what they just went through, but it is more at time when they allow themselves to feel it. Their friends are back home and out of danger so they allow themselves to wake up and feel again.

Any idea how much it takes to be able to do that?

Resiliency training gets them through combat but it makes coming home worse when it feeds that same quality that allows them to do what they do and then feeds the pain of knowing they need help but can't ask for it. The suicides will keep going up until they come up with the real answers and programs that will help them to believe in themselves again.

Soldier Suicide: The Stigma to Seeking Help
The biggest barrier to preventing suicide among our service members and veterans is countering the disciplined self-reliance that they've been trained to embrace
By RAJIV SRINIVASAN
July 12, 2012

It’s never a highly publicized affair on a military post. When we pass through our commissary and pick up the installation newsletter, we are used to seeing an official photograph of a soldier, their obituary, their age — typically under 30. But more and more frequently, the words “killed in action” will be conspicuously missing from the narrative, and other clues will eliminate the possibility of a training accident or drug use or a car crash.

The complexity of solving our veteran mental health crisis is not a question of the availability of services, it’s in encouraging soldiers to use those services. How do we tell someone who has been shot at and blown up for multiple tours of duty that the biggest danger they face now is themselves? For me, my mind was strong enough to get me through combat. It was the ultimate weapon against complacency and emotional breakdown. My mind was my saving grace, and to hear that it was now my biggest burden when I returned from a tour with post-traumatic stress sounded like a joke. Besides, I didn’t even have it that bad. We saw a lot of fights, but I came home in one piece; but many of my company-mates did not. How was I supposed to sit in a hospital waiting room to cry to a doctor about my bad dreams when there were soldiers with amputated legs sitting next to me?

But my mother and girlfriend wouldn’t take no for an answer. I started going to see a counselor. But I was about to transfer posts (as most soldiers do within six months of a deployment) so we decided not to do much more than talk from time to time. When I finally moved to my new posting, took a month of leave, and settled into my new job, there was enough stimuli around me to make me feel like I didn’t need anything else. And so when I started having trouble sleeping, over indulging in food and alcohol, and pushing away family and friends, I drowned myself in work to keep myself so busy that I wouldn’t think about the underlying causes of my behavior.
Read more

Hidden camera found in patient's room at James A Haley VA hospital

Family discovers 'covert camera' in Haley VA patient's room
By William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, July 10, 2012

TAMPA — Joseph Carnegie's son-in-law last month noticed an odd-looking smoke detector on the ceiling of the severely brain-damaged 80-year-old's private room at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center.

It wasn't there the day before.

The son-in-law, Mike Coleman, took a closer look that day, June 15. He thought he could see a tiny camera lens inside. His wife, Natalie Carnegie, asked a nurse, who she said assured her it was just a new smoke alarm.

In fact, it was a camera.

Officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that they ordered the installation of a small camera in Carnegie's room without his family's consent. They say it is medically necessary to monitor Carnegie's fragile health 24 hours a day.

Haley administrators deny it is a hidden camera, though they could not explain why they selected this particular model. The camera's manufacturer, Vonnic, describes it like this on its website: "C401W Smoke Detector Covert Camera."
read more here

DoD does not know if PTSD programs work, duh

Obviously THEY DO NOT WORK OF WE WOULDN'T BE SEEING SO MANY SUFFERING ALL THESE YEARS!

Report: DoD does not know if PTSD programs work
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 13, 2012

The Defense Department has a woeful lack of information on the effectiveness and related costs of its post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programs, despite having spent millions on various initiatives to address psychological health and traumatic brain injury, a panel of top scientists concluded in a report released Friday.

In a review of DoD and Veterans Affairs Department PTSD treatments mandated by Congress in 2010, an Institute of Medicine panel found fewer than half of all service members and veterans who screen positive for the disorder’s symptoms — 40 percent — have received referrals for care, and of those, just 65 percent actually go on to get help.

RELATED READING:

• Read the report

The group also concluded that DoD and VA should improve tracking of treatment and outcomes and institute research programs to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs.

“Treatment isn’t reaching everyone who needs it, and the departments aren’t tracking which treatments are being used or evaluating how well they work in the long term,” said committee chairman Sandro Galea, head of the epidemiology department at Columbia University.

The withering report comes as DoD and VA grapple with rising mental health issues within their ranks, including suicide.

Of the more than 2.6 million active-duty, National Guard and reserve members who deployed to combat operations in the past decade, an estimated 13 percent to 20 percent have or might develop PTSD, according to other Defense Department and Rand Corp. studies.
read more here

Hundreds of veterans rally for a VA Hospital in Roane Co

Hundreds of veterans rally for a VA Hospital in Roane Co.
Jul 13, 2012
Written by
Mary Scott

Roane County's veterans want Washington to know they need a VA hospital.

"I've been having to travel six hours to go the VA hospital in Murfreesboro which is a burden on me," said Dr. Ron Higgs, a retired physician in Roane County.

For the second time, hundreds of veterans rallied together Friday in Kingston to show their support of a new hospital.

Dr. Higgs is deeply connected to this fight.

"I'm a patient of the VA hospital and I've spent my entire career at Roane County Medical Center," he said.

Local mayors teamed up to get Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R) and House Veterans Affairs Chairman Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL) to the rally.

read more here

Army veteran can't run for office in Alaska

Army vet disqualified from running as election candidate... because she was HOMELESS
By CHRISTINE SHOW
PUBLISHED:13 July 2012
Daily Mail UK

A U.S. Army veteran was disqualified from running for a seat as a state representative because she was homeless.

Barbara Bachmeier, a Republican from Anchorage, Alaska, was told she was ineligible to run for a seat in the state's District 13 because she didn't meet residency requirements.

The woman had lived in her truck for a time while she struggled to find a permanent home.
Read more

Home from War, Reservists Struggle to Find Support

Home from War, Reservists Struggle to Find Support
WNYC News
Friday, July 13, 2012
By Abbie Fentress Swanson : Culture Editor & Interactive Content Producer

Listen to WNYC host Soterios Johnson talk with David Segal, who teaches Sociology at the University of Maryland, about the particular challenges facing members of the National Guard and Reserves.

Amid the spa, cocktail bar and other trappings of The Heldrich Hotel, a luxury hotel in New Brunswick, NJ, are eight couples who have signed up for a weekend retreat – who are trying to get quality time without the kids. But it’s not all relaxing, these couples are here to work on their marriages, and they’re being led by Staff Sergeant Anthony Mauro in a Strong Bonds for Couples training for New Jersey Army National Guard members and their spouses.

In an afternoon session, Staff Sergeant Mauro asks the couples to split up by gender and make ‘Top 10’ lists of what they think their spouses need in a relationship.

The women go first.

“Of course at the top of the list we put that men want sex from their wives,” the spokeswoman for the group said. “Followed by food and/or a personal chef.”

She says men also want submissive women. They don’t want to be nagged but they do want a “man cave,” an ego boost and a stylist.

The men go next.

“Romance, money, security, communication, honesty, empathy, love and affection … quality time and a lot of chocolate,” one of the husbands reads from the list.

Actually, says Staff Sergeant Mauro, studies show love is what most women want in relationships and respect is what men are looking for.

Due to the nature of the National Guard and the Reserves, it’s not always easy to get help before or after deployments. Unlike active duty servicemembers, National Guard members and reservists train near their hometowns one weekend a month and two weeks each summer with the expectation that they’ll help out with disaster response. Many who joined prior to 9/11 never imagined they would do two, three or four combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
read more here

Honorable Service, Dishonorable Treatment

A Marine's Struggle: Honorable Service, Dishonorable Treatment
By KARIN MARINARO
COMMENTARY
The Hartford Courant
July 13, 2012


To lose a child is one of the worst tragedies in life. I have almost lost my son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Marinaro, 26, twice — once in Afghanistan and once here — by suicide.

My son was raised with strong morals. Upon graduation from high school, Rob received scholarships to college and was nominated to attend theU.S. Naval Academy. Although an issue with his eyes medically disqualified him from the academy, he received a Navy ROTC scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University and excelled. Rob was commissioned at the top in his ROTC class, received honors from Carnegie Mellon in 2008 and graduated with distinction from the Marine Corps' Basic and Intelligence schools.

In 2010, Rob deployed to Afghanistan where he collected intelligence from Afghans. In one particular situation, Rob was in a firefight with enemy forces when one of his Marines was lost, dying in my son's arms.

"Please don't die!" the Navy corpsman said to the mortally wounded lance corporal.

Every day since, my son deals with that memory.

With his tour complete in September 2010, Rob returned to Camp Pendleton in California. Soon thereafter, Rob began to struggle.

I watched my beautiful, bright, loving son, wrestle with his mental demons and implored him to get help. Unfortunately, as a military officer, he faced an even greater stigma for those seeking psychiatric help than that experienced by younger Marines or junior leaders. The tough culture of the Marine Corps is harsh on those who seek help.

Nevertheless, I told him that a true leader recognizes his own weaknesses and seeks help.

Sadly, Rob did not receive the help he needed until it was too late.
read more here

Army suicides, same report, two different headlines

The Army released one report for June on soldiers committing suicide. The news however ended up producing two different headline.

This is from Army Times

Active-duty suicide numbers decline in June
Staff report
Posted : Friday Jul 13, 2012 16:32:28 EDT

As many as 11 active-duty soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in June, five fewer than in the previous month, the Army announced Friday.

Of those, one has been confirmed as suicide and the other 10 are still under investigation. Among the 11 soldiers who died, two were women.

So far this year, 89 active-duty soldiers are believed to have killed themselves.

Also in June, 12 reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty are believed to have committed suicide. Ten of the soldiers were in the Army National Guard; two were in the Army Reserve.

All 12 deaths remain under investigation.
read more here

This is from Stars and Stripes

Army reports 23 suicides in June
By CHRIS CARROLL
Published: July 13, 2012

WASHINGTON—Twenty-three soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in June, slightly fewer than in May, the Army reported Friday.

There were 11 likely suicides among active duty troops last month, while for reserve troops not on active duty, 12 suicides were reported. In May, 16 active-duty and nine reserve soldiers are thought to have killed themselves.

There have been 147 reported Army suicide cases through June. In 2011, 283 soldiers committed suicide.
read more here

Former Navy Doctor Looks At PTSD From Within

Former Navy Doctor Looks At PTSD From Within
July 14, 2012
By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is the hell of war that follows you home and a former Navy doctor’s book looks at the ailment, from the inside.

Dr. John Parrish can give you a medical description of PTSD.

“It’s a rewiring of parts of the brain that learn to process dangerous conditions and the person thinks, inappropriately, that they’re in a dangerous position either all the time or after certain triggers,” says Dr. Parrish.

But Dr. Parrish, author of Autopsy of War, knows from personal experience how it nearly destroyed his life, until he admitted he had a problem and got treatment.
read more here

Marine's death under investigation

MCAS investigating Marine's death
July 13, 2012
Yuma Sun
BY JAMES GILBERT

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma are investigating the death of a Marine from New Jersey who was found dead inside a barracks room Sunday morning.

The Marine, 24-year-old Richard Cummings Jr., was a member of Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 48 and was based at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois.
read more here