Do you think the number 22 helps or hurts suicide awareness in the military community?

My opinion is that any attention on the issue is "good attention". I understand the negative stigma the campaign brings to veterans, but am willing to carry the stigma if it focuses more attention/resources on mental healthcare for combat veterans.

I only recently learned that the vast majority of veteran suicides are attributable to Vietnam War vets. However, the whole PR effort to create awareness (tied to the number "22") has caused people to think that recent veterans of the Gulf War and Afghanistan are somehow defective and some employers are loathe to hire them. If this is not true, please let me know. If true, then it is time to have a discussion as to how this situation can be remedied.

It's "statistically vague."

It doesn't say anything and is designed to evoke an emotional response without providing meaningful data. When I first heard it, my questions were:

1) How does that compare to the population at large? Lesser, Greater, Same?
2) Is this across all Eras of service? (it isn't, and further research shows many are "end of life" from Vietnam Era)
3) What is an "acceptable number?" It's great to say we are going to eliminate veteran suicide, but that's also an unrealistic goal, and unrealistic goals don't get accomplished. Therefore we REDUCE the number. However, when we change the verbiage... that implies some number is reasonable.

All this said, the number doesn't help. It's emotional, not logical. Emotional arguments are great for gaining awareness, but this one hides behind seemingly objective facts which allows it to be torn down further diluting its impact.

I think the number 22 which has been bandied around for so long hurts suicide awareness among veterans by numbing the minds of those who hear the same figure over and over CPT (Join to see) The biggest drawback is that when people keeping throwing out the number 22 it implies that no efforts are making any difference so why bother.
Thanks for mentioning me LTC Stephen Conway

CPT (Join to see) Ma'am, anything that we can do to help fellow brothers and sisters in pain, is a positive step.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/01/16811249-22-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day-va-report

I have personal knowledge of 2. Neither was the result of the vets military service.

The statistic is pretty much meaningless unless one has a casual relationship. Are some connected to the time in the military? Of course.

But, understand none of us ever truly know the cause of a suicide. The only person who knows no longer talks.

I lost my best friend to veteran suicide. I also lost a coworker to the same thing. I don't think the number 22 effects suicide awareness positively or negatively. I think 22 is just a number at this point and does not draw attention to the real issues at hand. There was such a stigma for many years about depression and suicidal ideations making you weak, then leadership made the attempt to be supportive and inform their soldiers that there was help out there for them. Now that we are in a draw down, the stigma is back because soldiers do not want to be discharged for something that they may/ may not be able to control. I think that the annual suicide awareness brief that the army mandates is extremely dull and therefore no one takes it seriously. Suicide rates in the military are extremely high and it should be taken much more seriously than it actually is. As for the veterans of previous wars, the stigma is still there for them, because the military did not offer them any type of treatment, making the thought that treatment now- so far after the fact- would seem irrelevant to them. My entire adult life, this country has been at war. We focus so much on our current SM's and transitioning veterans that we sometimes "forget" (for lack of a better word) those who came before us. That they paved the way for us and the things that we know now. Eliminating the stigma and the mindset that there is no help for service members, or that if service members ask for help they will be looked down upon should be the goal, then and only then, will people truly start reaching out and asking for help.

CPT (Join to see) it is a major help, last year I used it as a beginning point on a 15-minute speech I gave in a freshman Speech class and by the time I had concluded the audience was breathing, gasping, and tearing up in cadence.
They were horrified when the numbers from "accidental" overdose, and driving off of roadways or into things were added. I was tearing up when i spoke my last words,"With these final categories added I fear that the number of Veteran suicides is at least double and could possibly triple 22 a day.

I'm torn on this issue. My radio tech. Became 1of the 22. His widow posts many photos of the new 22 and it is a trigger for those of us with acute PTSD however the information needs to be out there as to deter the next veteran from going south. My opinion.

I have 8.5 years Navy Nurse Corps, Regular Navy (discharge Aug. 1984) and since leaving the service have pursued a career in Psychiatric and Addictions Nursing. I am currently a Legal Nurse Consultant working with Forensic patients and an expert witness in suicide litigation, mostly malpractice and negligence. I have been an active member of the American Association of Suicidology since 1997. I am a war time Vet, service connected, missing part of my body, diagnosed with PTSD and receiving care from the VA. I relate all this to establish my Bona Fides.
Suicide is the ultimate expression of frustration, a permanent solution to a temporary problem. How many of us have reached that moment of frustration, before or after service, that we said, "I can't take it any more!" A most recent study of data from 163,178 enlisted soldiers showed of those, 9,650 had attempted suicide during the study period between 2004 to 2009. A "surprising" fact was that enlisted soldiers who had never been deployed accounted for 61.1 percent of the enlisted soldiers who attempted suicide. An abstract of the study is available on the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) website.
The person who already has support due to early at-risk identification and intervention has much less likelihood of taking the final option, nothing left to do but end it all; "Nobody cares or understands so I'll just go away". We fight and sacrifice not only to preserve our way of life but life itself. Life is so precious to Americans we will kill others who threaten ours. The ethical and moral bottom line of military service, war-fighting and enemy eradiation is kill-or-be-killed. A Marine Gunny once told me, "The only thing you should feel when pulling the trigger on the enemy is the recoil of your rifle."
Every waking hour of every day I wear the bracelet (available from any VA facility) with the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, [login to see] , Press 1. I ask EVERY patent I come in contact with if they served in the military. Some older vets don't actually identify themselves as veterans because they weren't in combat. Suicide cannot be swept under the rug, ignored, made a political prize or put at the end of the priority list. The veteran person that needs help to stay alive, in the field or in his own home, must have that help provided as a matter of trust. If I am under withering fire, I KNOW , my fellow service man/woman has got my back and believe I will get through this with their help. Together, we will prevail. If every Veteran believed that help is still always available, regardless of their need, there would be a lot more lives saved. The Hotline is out-sourced (see "Crisis Hotline: Veteran's Press One" HBO Documentary 2013) and is actually the National Suicide Prevention Hotline for everybody; 318 million people. Using conservative estimates (12.13 suicides per 11K), at any given moment there could be over 41,000 people calling for life-saving help; Veterans Press One. Studies show up to 90% of these folks have diagnosed mental illness or addiction or both. I'm all for ANY bill, law, policy etc. that improves healthcare for vets but something as relatively small as a dedicated Veteran's Hotline could make a big dent in lost Veteran's lives. It would also quite probably get Veterans in need into the system quickly and provide support and help when most needed.
In the meantime, if you are reading this, call your local VA facility, clinic etc. and volunteer your time. Talk is easy. Blogging is easy. Volunteering to help a brother or sister in arms takes some work and sacrifice. Just a few hour per month could make all the difference in the world to a Vet in need. You could, again, save a life and help preserve the America we all know and love.