Who said we can't prevent suicides in the military?

I am dumbfounded! I don't know where someone as smart and well educated as this man is got the idea we can't stop suicides, but he has it and has just put nails in more coffins.

Michael Blumenfield, M.D.Sidney E. Frank Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, New York Medical College
Posted: August 2, 2010 11:36 AM
We Can't Prevent Suicides and PTSD in the Military
The latest information released by the U.S. Army reveals that last year American soldiers attempted suicide at the rate of about 5/day. There were 160 successful suicides last year and during June the rate was 1/day. Military research has reported that one in ten Iraq veterans may develop a severe case of PTSD.

As statistics such as these continue to emerge there is a continued outcry that something should be done about it. A report issued by the U.S. Army mistakenly minimized the fact that these psychological casualties are a result combat and the realities of war. The Army review concluded "simply stated, we are often more dangerous to ourselves than the enemy." It went on to say that commanders have failed to identify and monitor soldiers prone to risk taking behavior and as a result suicides among soldier have soared. This is a misguided view that somehow if we did the right thing we could prevent these events.

We haven't been able to prevent the increasing number of Americans being killed by IEDs. War is hell and soldiers get killed. We train them the best way that we know how, but inevitably soldiers die when there is a war.
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Blumenfield is half right by brining up the fact we have not stopped them and the numbers have gone up but he's missing a really important point and that is, what they have been doing has not stopped them but it is not impossible to do.

Look at the figures from the Suicide Prevention Hotline.

FOR EMBARGOED RELEASE Media Contact: SAMHSA Press Office 12:01 am Thursday, May 27, 2010 240-276-2130
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network Answers Two Millionth Call
National Network of Local Crisis Centers Continues to Help More Callers in Emotional Distress or Suicidal Crisis through its Toll-free, 24-hour Hotline
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) 1-800-273-TALK (8255), a network of crisis call centers located throughout the nation, has answered its two millionth call since its launch on January 1, 2005. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Lifeline currently responds to an average of more than 1,800 calls a day or 54,000 calls per month.
read more of this here
SAMHSA Press Office

This should be one of the biggest news stories when it comes to suicide prevention and any reports on the military but it isn't. Why is it so important? Because 54,000 veterans and their families are reaching the point of calling a suicide prevention hotline each month in the first place! Two million? Yet the media ignores this? The numbers of suicides and attempted suicides have gone up since 2005 but two million reached out for help? Serious problem here folks!

It's not impossible to do but the way the military is doing it won't get them there from here. To have "Michael Blumenfield, M.D. Sidney E. Frank Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, New York Medical College" say they can't be prevented tossed in failure as an option. Considering the way the DOD has been addressing PTSD and the VA has been attempting to along with congress, it was not a hard leap for him to make but he needed to think beyond what has been failing and jump on what is possible.

They keep listening to the same experts telling them the same "solutions" when no one is asking any of these "experts" why the hell what they are suggesting has not worked before! If this guy throws his hands up and surrenders on suicide prevention, then what hope is there? We can't save them all. I know that as well as anyone else because I've failed when it mattered to my own family and my husband's nephew committed suicide. I couldn't save him but I've saved others. It is possible to at least save a hell of a lot more than we have but repeating the same mistakes cost too many their lives. Giving up will cost even more.

Families key to suicide prevention in the National Guard

Families key to suicide prevention in the National Guard
Staff Sgt. Blair Heusdens
Florida National Guard



ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., (7/27/10) - The National Guard faces unique challenges in tackling suicides.

Where Soldiers on active duty have access to military healthcare and the constant support of peers and leaders, National Guard Soldiers spend just one weekend a month with their unit, making it difficult to track changes in behavior and mood.

Families serve as a vital link for identifying suicidal behavior and tendencies in National Guardsmen, according to the Florida Guard's psychological health expert.

"Often, the most important person in suicide prevention is the family member," said Stephanie Lincoln, the director of Psychological Health for the Florida National Guard. "I'm not - and the leadership is not - with the Soldier 24/7 or in contact with them every day."

Suicide is a problem that continues to plague the U.S. military at all levels; though not all trends are as clear-cut as one might think. According to data from Lincoln, the Army's suicide rate for the month of June hit 32, are cord since the beginning of the overseas contingency operations in 2001.

As of July of this year, the Army National Guard reported 58 suicides,already nearing the 64 suicides in 2009.

The reasons may surprise some, however. A majority of the Guardsmen who commit suicide - 32 out of 58 in 2010 - have never deployed. In contrast, 56of the 77 suicides among active duty Soldiers this year were Soldiers who had previously been deployed.

Those most at risk in the Army National Guard are males between the ages of 20-24 who have served for about two years. Although the reasons behind many suicides will never be known, it is clear that there are differences among the active and reserve components when it comes to suicides.
read more here
http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/07/073010-Families.aspx


Maybe if you watch this video you'll have a better idea why we all have to get involved.

Rolling Stone General McChrystal story not over yet

Army probing McChrystal staff over Rolling Stone interview

By NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army inspector general is investigating whether aides to former Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal were insubordinate when they made a series of derogatory comments about top civilian leaders to a Rolling Stone reporter, McClatchy Newspapers has learned.

The investigation comes as the Pentagon grapples with how much access the reporter who wrote the piece, Michael Hastings, should have to troops. Hastings was banned from a scheduled embed this September in Afghanistan for being untrustworthy, Col. David Lapan, the director of the Pentagon press office, said Tuesday.

Last month, however, the Army granted Hastings an interview with forces he'd embedded with previously in Afghanistan, saying it saw no harm.

The IG investigators have finished questioning officials and are completing the investigation, Army officials told McClatchy. The officials confirmed the investigation but wouldn't say who asked for it or specify what its scope is. The investigation began shortly after McChrystal was relieved of his command in June.



Read more: Army probing McChrystal staff over Rolling Stone interview

Also on this

Rolling Stone writer denied embed permission

By Anne Gearan - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 4, 2010 7:51:35 EDT

WASHINGTON — The author of the Rolling Stone article that ended the military career of Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former top commander in Afghanistan, has been denied permission to join U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Defense Department spokesman Col. David Lapan told reporters that freelance writer Michael Hastings was rebuffed when he asked to accompany, or “embed,” with American forces next month.

The rejection came as the Pentagon ramped up an internal investigation into the circumstances behind some of the most salacious material Hastings used in his article in Rolling Stone. The Army inspector general is interviewing current and former McChrystal aides, the Associated Press has learned.
read more of this here
Rolling Stone writer denied embed permission

Party turned deadly after gunman opened fire

Indianapolis woman shot dead at party at her home
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 3, 2010 2:45 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Barbara Johnson, 37, was killed at her Indianapolis home
Police are processing a vehicle they say may have been used in the shooting
A police spokesman tells CNN affiliate WISH "it could've been a lot worse"
Police are still searching for the suspect who fired an assault rifle into a crowded party
(CNN) -- The morning after a masked gunman killed two people and wounded six more at a party, police in Indianapolis, Indiana, were still on the scene investigating, authorities said Tuesday.

Indianapolis police said the victims were Barbara Johnson, 37, who lived at the home where the shots were fired, and Charles Mays, 54, also of Indianapolis.

Investigators had found two cars that may be related to the incident, Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell said Tuesday.
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Indianapolis woman shot dead at party at her home

Hartford Distributors employees grieve together after shooting

Employees in workplace shooting still reeling over 'senseless act'
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 4, 2010 2:10 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Company officials meeting Wednesday with employees "to grieve and to come together"
Girlfriend of suspected shooter says he complained of racial harassment
Union says there was no filed complaint alleging racism
Suspect had just left disciplinary meeting, police chief says
For more on this story, go to CNN affiliates WTNH and WFSB.

Manchester, Connecticut (CNN) -- As police investigate the deadly shooting spree at Hartford Distributors and prepare to identify its victims, the company will meet Wednesday with employees, some of whom have been with the company for more than 30 years.

"They want to meet in private, an opportunity for people to grieve and to come together and to address the remainder of their family members, meaning their employees," said James Battaglio, a spokesman for the family that owns the business.

Omar Thornton, 34, walked into a room early Tuesday at the beverage distributorship where he worked in Manchester, Connecticut. Company and union officials played a video. He calmly watched images that purportedly showed him stealing from a truck.
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Employees in workplace shooting

Two 9/11 widows raise funds to help bereaved Afghan women

Two 9/11 widows raise funds to help bereaved Afghan women
They hope medal will help the cause
By Denise Lavoie
Associate Press / August 4, 2010

As a widow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Susan Retik was showered with love and support from family, friends, and even strangers who sent food, flowers, and cash.

But when she watched the news and saw war widows in Afghanistan, she knew they had no such support system.

Retik and another Massachusetts woman who also lost her husband on Sept. 11, 2001, decided to raise money for widows in Afghanistan, the same nation where their husbands’ killers had trained as terrorists.

On Wednesday, President Obama will recognize Retik and 12 others with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor that can be conferred on an American citizen.

Retik and the group’s cofounder, Patti Quigley, started by making a donation from the money they received after the Sept. 11 attacks from insurance, their husband’s firms, and strangers.

read more here

Two 9 11 widows raise funds to help bereaved Afghan women

Researchers Rewrite Nightmares of PTSD Patients

It's not just rewriting their dreams, they need to rewrite their memories. If they only hold onto the moments of terror, they don't see it all, remember what they were feeling before it happened and above all, what was their intention when they had to kill.

Most of the time when veterans contact me, they are focused on the image of the death of someone. While PTSD can strike without involving killing someone, it is the deepest cut of all. A young National Guardsman came back with such horrible memories that dealing with physical wounds was too much for him to begin to deal with. He lost his wife, custody of his two young children, disconnected from his family, lost his home and was couch homeless staying with friends and tried to commit suicide twice by the time I was contacted by his Mom.

His Mom didn't know what PTSD was or why he acted the way he did. It turned out that he didn't either. After building up the level of trust over a series of phone calls, he told me about the worst haunting event he had. While in Iraq, he was part of a convoy. A car was coming too close. He knew that many other cars had done the same thing to others but ended up blowing them up. He thru rocks at the car. He shouted. He fired warning shots in the air all the time praying they would stop, back off, anything to avoid having to do what he eventually had to do. He began to fire at the car. It was a family inside. The rest of what happened was edited by his memory. He was only remembering the bodies in the car and the fact he shot them.

He didn't remember what he tried to do before it in order to prevent it. He didn't remember that his prayers were begging God to get the driver to stop. He didn't remember the rocks or the warning shots in the air when he was haunted by what happened. That was not until the whole movie was allowed to play in his mind. Then he was able to make peace with that part of his story. No longer haunted by it, he began to heal. He just needed to remember that the history of events such as what he went through did not turn out to be innocent people in a car, but terrorists trying to blow up soldiers.

That's the problem with doing this kind of healing. This kind of healing does not get funded because it doesn't need medication after the chemicals in the brain are leveled off again. It doesn't take years and years of therapy session as long as it's done close, or as close as possible to the events. It doesn't cost millions of dollars. It just takes understanding what all humans do to themselves.

This even works on chronic PTSD veterans. The longer PTSD goes on un-addressed, the less PTSD can be reversed. Even with Vietnam veterans, after 40 years of being haunted, some of it can still be reversed but medications are usually still necessary and so is therapy to keep them stabilized.

With what we know about PTSD, had this been available when Vietnam veterans came home, most would have been healed. Marriages would have been saved and so many homeless veterans walking the streets wouldn't have happened if families knew how to help them. Suicides wouldn't have claimed so many lives and no veteran would ever reach the point of such despair they would need to call the suicide prevention hot line. The problem is, the DOD won't listen, the VA won't listen and congress won't fund something like this. Foundations and charities won't fund it. People won't donate to fund it. The best way to heal PTSD is to get them to the point where they can find peace within themselves. Peace with what happened so they can forgive themselves and peace with God so they know He understood what happened and why it happened.

If you want to see what a flashback looks like, here's one of my videos from a couple of years ago. If we really want to help them then we need to stop doing what has not worked and start to do what has.

'Inception' in Real Life? Researchers Rewrite Nightmares of PTSD Patients
Dreamers Can Incubate Their Own Narratives to End the Terror, Say Sleep Experts

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Aug. 2, 2010


Post Traumatic Stress Patients Rescript Their Dreams

While they are awake, patients take a few minutes to create a new dream script. He asks one of his patients to change a demonic black racing car with giant eyeballs to a white Cadillac with bubbles, gently tooling along.

His studies show that this new cognitive therapy can help reduce the frequency and intensity of nightmares and perhaps even end them altogether.

Krakow's PTSD research has implications on all people with sleep disorders. In studies of more than 1,000 patients with post-traumatic stress symptoms, he found 5 to 10 other sleep problems may be involved, including high rates of sleep apnea.

"There's a connection a lot of people are missing in the complexity of PTSD sleep disturbance," said Krakow. "Everybody thinks these kinds of people have psychological issues. What we learned is there is a tremendous physiological component."

"What is being missed by many people is breathing disorders or sleep movement disorders all run together," he said. "It's not one thing."

Sleep disorders are serious business, according to Krakow. Those with nightmares can "actually act out their dreams and move around and hurt somebody."

Such is the case with Gotcher, who said her brain "feels like it's in a war, even in a conscious state."
read more here
Researchers Rewrite Nightmares of PTSD Patients

Related

Violent Sleepwalkers Can Kill When Interrupted

Cumberland County soldier dies after car hits tree

Cumberland County: local soldier dies in car accident
August 1, 11:40 AM
Scranton Crime Examiner
Amanda Tennis

Ryan Heffernan, 19, a local Cumberland County soldier on leave, was killed around 3a.m. When he crashed into a tree. Heffernan was unconscious when EMS got to the scene of the crash.
read the rest here
Local soldier dies in car accident

Counseling center opens with goal of offering peace to safety forces

Counseling center opens with goal of offering peace to safety forces
Idea springs from trial of five sheriff's deputies

By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer


Published on Tuesday, Aug 03, 2010


Inside the Furnace Street Mission is a place for those who help others to seek respite for themselves.

The Summit County Chaplaincy Center for safety forces will provide confidential counseling for stress debriefing after incidents involving on-duty safety personnel, including dispatchers.

Renovations began about 18 months ago, said the Rev. Bob Denton, chaplain for the Akron Police Department and executive director of Victim Assistance.

The need for the center is apparent by the escalation in counseling requests from last year to this year, he said.

''There were about 90 sessions last year and 71 sessions just since the first of this year,'' he said.

Most memorable in Denton's mind
are the officers still on the street because they asked for and received help.

''Four officers in the last year are all here because of it. They were going to eat their guns,'' he said.

The idea for the center was born during the trials of five Summit County sheriff's deputies who were accused of contributing to the 2006 death of jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr.
read more here
http://www.ohio.com/news/99818554.html

President wins praise of veterans

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Barack Obama Hosts Roundtable Discussion with South Carolina Veterans
Obama noted that his commitment to veterans is grounded in his experience being raised in part by his grandfather, who served during World War II.“I will never forget that everyone who wears the uniform deserves the opportunities that my grandfather got – to have a Commander-in-Chief who is accountable, and to have a grateful nation that helps you live the American Dream that you have defended,” Obama said.

And he didn't forget. The problem is, not many knew about any of this. When he was Senator Obama, he did a lot of things no one really paid attention to and that was what made me admire him more.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Obama, Hagel, and Harkin Address GI Suicides
Obama, Hagel, and Harkin Address GI Suicidesby Piuma, Thu Feb 07, 2008 at 11:36:08 PM EST
The following is excerpted from a diary on the Think On These Things blog:As news reports reveal growing numbers of suicide among soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. Senators Tom Harkin, Chuck Hagel, and Barack Obama on January 31, introduced major legislation aimed at preventing suicide among active duty members of the military.

The Senators' bill, the Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act, would direct the Department of Defense (DoD) to create a comprehensive suicide prevention program including annual training for soldiers, improved instruction for field medics and post deployment assistance. The legislation authorizes six million dollars for implementation of the programs. A companion measure will be introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA).

Today's Washington Post reported that Army statistics show that 121 soldiers committee suicide last year - a 20 percent increase from 2006. This is the highest rate of Army suicides recorded since the Army started collecting this data in 1980. The Post also reported that last year about 2,100 soldiers "injured themselves or attempted suicide, compared with about 350 in 2002.""These startling statistics should serve as a wakeup call that suicide among soldiers and veterans is more than a problem, it is an epidemic," said Senator Harkin. "Thankfully, our push to provide America's veterans with a suicide prevention program was heard last year, when the President signed the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act into law. But there is more work ahead - especially in serving our active duty military personnel. We can and must act quickly to save our soldiers who are so bravely fighting for our country."

But that was just the start. When no one was looking, he was paying attention to what programs were in the country for veterans.

Obama: Real patriotism is treating veterans right
Obama: Real patriotism is treating veterans right
Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor May 12, 2008 12:35 PM
Barack Obama told West Virginia voters today that a test of real patriotism is giving veterans the care and services they need -- a test he argued that the Bush administration has sorely failed in a "betrayal of the ideals that we ask our troops to risk their lives for.""We must never forget that honoring this service and upholding these ideals requires more than saluting our veterans as they march by on Veterans Day or Memorial Day," he said, according to prepared remarks. "It requires marching with them for the care and benefits they have earned It requires standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our veterans and their families after the guns fall silent and the cameras are turned off.
At a time when we’re facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War, the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they’ve served us," said Obama, who has been criticized for not wearing a flag lapel pin.The Democratic front-runner renewed his call for creating a "21st century VA," for expanding treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, and for a new GI bill for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.In calling for expanding services and benefits, Obama also talked at length of personal memories of his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, who enlisted after the Pearl Harbor attacks, fought with General George Patton during World War II, and is buried in a national cemetery in Hawaii with Pearl Harbor victims

At the time, the one I thought did the most good was the Montana National Guards Program.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Obama talks about Montana National Guard at Columbia University
Columbia University Presidential ForumLIVE VIDEO: Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain make a joint appearance at Columbia University to discuss civic engagement in the post 9/11 world.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22886841#22886841
At about half way through Senator Obama's question and answer session, he brings up the Montana National Guard and their PTSD program. I know I must be boring some readers with this but it is one of the best programs in the country.

Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide

Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.
"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.

How else would he have known about this program if he didn't care? I do this as my job (unpaid but hey, it's my mission in life) and he had a lot of other things he had to learn at the time he was trying to become the president. He knew this was the best program out there at the time simply because he bothered to pay attention. Things have changed a lot for the veterans in this country and the way the troops are treated when they have PTSD. We have a long way to go but he's part of the reason we've come this far. The proof is there but too few have bothered to pay attention. As for me, I believe he earned praise from veteran a long time ago but few in the media will even talk about any of this. It's the reason so many at the DAV Convention were shocked by what he knew and how much he cared. No one ever told them.

President wins praise of veterans
By Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service
Tuesday, Aug 3, 2010
ATLANTA --- The big news from President Obama's speech to disabled veterans Monday was that the Iraq pullout is on schedule.


But the commander in chief's words about the veterans themselves were what stuck with Augustan Willie Davis Jr.

"He really surprised me," the Vietnam veteran said. "We had everybody from World War II to current war veterans here, and everybody said the same thing. They were surprised that the president was so knowledgeable and cared so much for the veterans."

They responded with a standing ovation as the president finished, said Davis, who is the chief of staff in the Georgia Disabled American Veterans.

"Most presidents or politicians will tell you anything, but hearing him speak, you could tell it came from his heart," he said.

Obama told the veterans that the planned troop drawdown from Iraq will be completed this month, with more than 90,000 troops returned. Not all troops will be home until the end of 2011.
read more here
President wins praise of veterans

By the way, he's the third President to go to speak to the DAV. First Ford, then Clinton and now Obama.