Study examines suicide among OEF, OIF vets
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 27, 2012
Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are no more likely to commit suicide than other veterans — unless they have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.
Then, their risk is four times higher than veterans who have not received any mental health diagnosis, according to a study published in the June Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
While psychiatric disorders are a known risk factor for suicide in the general population as well as in veterans, researchers sought to determine whether those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were especially vulnerable.
They cross-referenced the Veterans Health Administration’s National Patient Care Database with the Centers for Disease Control’s National Death Index for answers. In fiscal 2007 and 2008, there were 1,920 veteran suicides, 96 of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Analysis showed that having a mental health condition correlated with increased risk: a mental health diagnosis increased the suicide risk in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans four-fold, while other veterans with a mental health condition were 2½ times more likely to commit suicide.
read more here
Friday, July 27, 2012
Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD more likely to commit suicide than others
I thought about this title for while, trying to figure out how to get as much attention as possible. This one seemed to fit best. While I used PTSD and this report used "mental health condition" we really know what the majority of the "mental health" conditions really are all about. PTSD is the major one followed by, TBI. The rest, well if you listen to most experts they tell you that when a veteran has PTSD and a psychologist is looking for something else, they are usually able to link what is PTSD to other illnesses. If they are actually looking for PTSD, all they need to do is find a traumatic event. Why? Because the only way to end up with PTSD is after trauma.
Support for Homeland Heroes
Support for Homeland Heroes
by SHELLY on JULY 27, 2012
Did you know that around 38% of Fire Rescue personnel and 32% of Emergency Dispatchers suffer from symptoms of PTSD? Or that every 17 hours a law enforcement officer takes his or her own life? The suicide rate among correctional officers is estimated to be even more than double that rate. These devastating statistics are provided by Serve & Protect’s website.
Serve and Protect is more than just an online presence. It is an organization dedicated to providing emotional, educational and spiritual support to Homeland Heroes (law enforcement, fire/rescue, corrections and emergency dispatch personnel) across the country and around the world. “The emotional trauma of the job, post traumatic stress, depression, and emotional isolation are killers,” says S and P. “Serve and Protect is there to care, help, and listen rooted in experience on the job and a rock solid network of partners and affiliates”.
Senior Chaplain Robert Michaels founded Serve & Protect in 2011. He knows all too well how first responders and criminal justice professionals put their lives on the line and the trauma they witness in the line of duty. Before embarking on his pastoral training, Michaels served for the 229th Military Police Battalion of the Virginia National Guard and as an officer and detective for the Norfolk Police Department. Serve and Protect’s board of directors, advisors and staff are also made up of individuals who have served as homeland heroes. For example, Dr. Melissa Riley, who has extensive experience counseling individuals suffering from PTSD, and other forms of mental illness, has 19 years experience working in fire/rescue.
read more here
by SHELLY on JULY 27, 2012
Did you know that around 38% of Fire Rescue personnel and 32% of Emergency Dispatchers suffer from symptoms of PTSD? Or that every 17 hours a law enforcement officer takes his or her own life? The suicide rate among correctional officers is estimated to be even more than double that rate. These devastating statistics are provided by Serve & Protect’s website.
Serve and Protect is more than just an online presence. It is an organization dedicated to providing emotional, educational and spiritual support to Homeland Heroes (law enforcement, fire/rescue, corrections and emergency dispatch personnel) across the country and around the world. “The emotional trauma of the job, post traumatic stress, depression, and emotional isolation are killers,” says S and P. “Serve and Protect is there to care, help, and listen rooted in experience on the job and a rock solid network of partners and affiliates”.
Senior Chaplain Robert Michaels founded Serve & Protect in 2011. He knows all too well how first responders and criminal justice professionals put their lives on the line and the trauma they witness in the line of duty. Before embarking on his pastoral training, Michaels served for the 229th Military Police Battalion of the Virginia National Guard and as an officer and detective for the Norfolk Police Department. Serve and Protect’s board of directors, advisors and staff are also made up of individuals who have served as homeland heroes. For example, Dr. Melissa Riley, who has extensive experience counseling individuals suffering from PTSD, and other forms of mental illness, has 19 years experience working in fire/rescue.
read more here
This PTSD I Grieve about National Guards and Reservists coming home and risking their lives back here after they risked them in combat. I did it for them but it turned out it was helping police and firefighters.
Sheriff can't get help for PTSD shooter because the VA said NO
Here we go again! We tell law enforcement to get their act together so they treat veterans with PTSD as if they are troubled and need help. This Sheriff listened. He paid attention. He didn't kill this veteran. He took him into custody and tried to get him help. What happened? Nothing! The VA said they would't help!
Sheriff can't get help for PTSD shooter
VA denied mental treatment, lawman says
Updated: Thursday, 26 Jul 2012
Ian Schwartz
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A heavily armed veteran who caused quite a scare Wednesday remains jailed on Thursday.
Torrance County Sheriff Heath White told KRQE News 13 the man needs mental help, so he turned to the agency he thought would be most likely to provide it but came up empty.
White said, Morris Haviland, the ex-soldier, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, after being badly wounded during peacekeeping duty in Bosnia.
On Wednesday he fired a dozen shots inside his house in Mountainair, and after surrendering, claimed it was booby trapped with explosives.
"He started deteriorating throughout the week," White said. "He started reliving his experience through the military while he was overseas."
White said during his PTSD episode Haviland, 54, started firing his AK-47 inside his home getting the attention of a lot cops and then the bomb squad.
"He definitely needed some type of mental health assistance, whether it be medication, counseling," White said.
After deputies took Haviland into custody, White called the Veterans Administration hospital in Albuquerque.
He wanted to get Haviland immediate mental help for his PTSD, help he could not get in jail.
read more here
Michael saluted, raised a gun to his head and pulled the trigger
For too many veterans, the ultimate defeat
By Phil Stewart
updated 7/26/2012
CHAMPION, Ohio — On a warm summer afternoon in Champion, Ohio, Michael Ecker, a 25-year-old Iraq war veteran, called out to his father from a leafy spot in their backyard. Then, as the two stood steps apart, Michael saluted, raised a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
"His eyes rolled back," his father, Matt, said softly as he recounted the 2009 suicide.
"There was just nothing I could do."
Weeks before he killed himself, Michael received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs accusing him of "over-reporting" the extent of his psychiatric problems. It was the culmination of a long struggle that Ecker, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury related to his service, had waged since returning home from the war to try to hold down a steady job, obtain VA disability benefits and resume a life as close to normal as possible.
"I've often thought about finding that doctor and saying, ‘Over-reporting?!' and giving him the death certificate," Matt Ecker said.
About once every half hour in America, a veteran within the VA healthcare system tries to commit suicide, according to VA figures for fiscal year 2011.
read more here
By Phil Stewart
updated 7/26/2012
CHAMPION, Ohio — On a warm summer afternoon in Champion, Ohio, Michael Ecker, a 25-year-old Iraq war veteran, called out to his father from a leafy spot in their backyard. Then, as the two stood steps apart, Michael saluted, raised a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
"His eyes rolled back," his father, Matt, said softly as he recounted the 2009 suicide.
"There was just nothing I could do."
Weeks before he killed himself, Michael received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs accusing him of "over-reporting" the extent of his psychiatric problems. It was the culmination of a long struggle that Ecker, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury related to his service, had waged since returning home from the war to try to hold down a steady job, obtain VA disability benefits and resume a life as close to normal as possible.
"I've often thought about finding that doctor and saying, ‘Over-reporting?!' and giving him the death certificate," Matt Ecker said.
About once every half hour in America, a veteran within the VA healthcare system tries to commit suicide, according to VA figures for fiscal year 2011.
read more here
Does Hope Really Make a Difference?
Does Hope Really Make a Difference?
Scientific Findings
By SUZANNE PHILLIPS, PSY.D., ABPP
Almost everyone has some experience with hope: We hope for the best. We hang on to hope. We despair when we lose hope.
It would seem that hope, which is broadly defined as an emotional state that promotes the belief in a positive outcome, is in inherent in human nature.
Reflections of the importance of hope are found in early mythology, religion, philosophy and literature.
Pandora, although forbidden, opened the box given to her by Zeus, and in a moment, all the curses were released into the world and all the blessing escaped and were lost- except one: hope.
Scientific Findings
By SUZANNE PHILLIPS, PSY.D., ABPP
Almost everyone has some experience with hope: We hope for the best. We hang on to hope. We despair when we lose hope.
It would seem that hope, which is broadly defined as an emotional state that promotes the belief in a positive outcome, is in inherent in human nature.
Reflections of the importance of hope are found in early mythology, religion, philosophy and literature.
Pandora, although forbidden, opened the box given to her by Zeus, and in a moment, all the curses were released into the world and all the blessing escaped and were lost- except one: hope.
“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.”
The King James Version of the Bible
“Hope is a waking dream.” –Aristotle
“Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.” -Albert Camus
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