Suicide Awareness Month: What We Can All Do To Make A Difference

2020-09-30T14:03:47-04:00

As the stigma surrounding mental health continues to lessen, more of an emphasis has been placed on suicide prevention and as a result a number of programs have emerged to varying degrees of success. But the fact remains that even with a wider array of prevention programs coupled with the allocation of $222 million by Congress to the VA to prevent suicide in the past decade, there are still 20 veteran suicides each day.

In my opinion, no program has been as far-reaching or all-encompassing as the recent President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS) task force in the effort to prevent suicide, of which I serve as an advisor for alongside a number of esteemed peers. The PREVENTS task force established a definitive roadmap which specifically outlines a multitude of unambiguous steps that all Americans can take to prevent suicide. Suicide is a national public health problem that in turn requires a national approach to dealing with.

The recommendations put forth by the PREVENTS task force cover a variety of topics and a lot of ground but in particular, I want to focus on what an approach looks like from the local level so that everyday Americans understand how they can participate and contribute to the prevention of suicide.

There are a number of states that have suicide prevention councils but a similar structure can be used to create councils that are specific to your community and the needs of your community’s citizens and veterans. Towns and cities across the country have put such councils in place composed of veterans, health care professionals, and faith and political leaders. This is a great resource to train the broader community about suicide and mental health, as well as coordinate outreach events, awareness campaigns and develop partnerships with local businesses and residents.

Having suicide prevention councils and other community specific organizations in place serve as sources for veterans to build a connection with their community which is paramount to maintaining good mental health. According to research conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, if individuals feel comfortable with their surroundings and feel a sense of belonging they are more likely to place a greater emphasis on maintaining overall health.

Suicide prevention councils can coordinate with local businesses and area employers about best practices for all employees, but particularly veterans, when it comes to preventing suicide. It is so much more than posting a suicide prevention poster in a shop window or making sure that employees have access to a suicide prevention hotline should they need it. Employers should be educated on the signs and symptoms of suicide and - this is the part that is often overlooked - educate their employees on these signs and symptoms as well. This has never before been more important than now as we wade through the current pandemic and many individuals are stressed about keeping their job, sending their children back to school and staying healthy so that they can continue to provide for their families.

I would also note that it is not only important for employers and companies to provide access to mental health care if they are able, but that it can be beneficial to also provide information about emergency services, religious leaders, veteran organizations, AA and substance abuse meetings and the nearest VA’s suicide prevention coordinator, to make a difference for employees who feel that they need access to additional services outside of traditional health care.

And, though the following strategy may not affect existing veterans, I do believe that more comprehensive mental health education can be introduced to children at a young age – either at home or especially in the classroom – as an added step to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and provide the next generation with the tools they need to manage their experiences and emotions. We can better prepare our children to monitor and pay attention to their mental health in a way that some of us were never taught. Local teachers, religious leaders, coaches and obviously parents can lead the way by taking simple steps, such as asking if a child is okay, truly meaning it and expecting an honest response back. Sometimes it is the little things that make the biggest difference.

I believe that the actions and steps we take on the local level are paramount to preventing suicide and I encourage anyone who is interested to learn more about initiatives and steps in your city or state. Additionally, the PREVENTS’ national public health campaign, REACH, is based on the idea that combatting veteran suicide is not just something that we all must do, but something we all must do together, by reaching out to one another and letting the people we care about know that they are not alone. I want to encourage everyone to head to https://www.wearewithinreach.net/pledge/ to learn more about REACH and take the PREVENTS pledge to reach today.

pledge

Response by SPC Margaret Higgins made Sep 30 at 2020 2:07 PM

2020-09-30T14:07:24-04:00

I have responded in kind before; one death is one death too many.

The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is the following: [login to see] .
Please, kindly, press the Number One (1) for: Active Duty troops; and, for Veterans.

Response by SPC Nancy Greene made Sep 30 at 2020 2:23 PM

2020-09-30T14:23:18-04:00

Chris Meek, I commend you for providing this information and definitely agree with increasing awareness and education. I would also add the connection between PTSD and suicide is a pertinent point in this discussion. In addition, cyber bullying can be more detrimental in some cases...I think SGT Robert Pryor, PO3 Bob McCord, SP5 Jim Curry, PO3 Phyllis Maynard, SPC Randy Zimmerman, and many others might have comments on this topic.

Response by SGT Robert Pryor made Sep 30 at 2020 6:38 PM

2020-09-30T18:38:38-04:00

Chris Meek wrote, "According to research conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, if individuals feel comfortable with their surroundings and feel a sense of belonging they are more likely to place a greater emphasis on maintaining overall health."
These are hollow words when Rally Point allows cyber-bullying by admin, rather than addressing issues in a helpful way. VA sends veterans to this site to deal with PTSD, depression, stress management and other issues because of the camaraderie that the VA financially supports this site to provide. When administrator SSG Private RallyPoint Member was told of the harm his actions are doing to veterans his response showed me disregard for the important subject brought up by this thread. When experts in various fields explain how he is wrong, he takes a defensive attitude, instead of apologizing for his egregious errors and learning from his mistakes. Obviously RP admin needs some training in the area of suicide prevention. Any member of admin who continues to harm veterans through their cyber-bullying should immediately resign their position, and perhaps even be permanently barred from Rally Point as a step towards suicide prevention. But NO, from my seat in the peanut gallery it appears rather than removing offending members, they stick together to perpetuate the problem. To demonstrate this, I am tagging members of admin. That way you can see if they jump in to defend or justify the behaviors of Dickhoff, rather than removing a festering sore from this site. I suggest that listed members of admin that refuse to police admin itself, should also resign and be replaced by individuals that more accurately reflect the make-up of the RP Community -- such as gender, branch of service, active duty, civilians, military retirees and other veterans. Remove those members of admin that have their names listed but do nothing at all and replace them with qualified individuals with advance degrees that put them in position to help with suicide prevention, such as SPC Nancy Greene, rather than exacerbating the problem.

Response by Shawna Palmer made Oct 1 at 2020 11:53 AM

2020-10-01T11:53:03-04:00

Thank you for sharing!

Response by LT Christopher Miller made Oct 1 at 2020 12:19 PM

2020-10-01T12:19:36-04:00

I am a civilian with the Coast Guard, but I recently learned that servicemembers in the USCG can ask to see a civilian provider for mental health issues, and it is kept completely confidential. I think if I had this option while I was on active duty in the Navy, I might have sought out mental health support. I didn't because I was afraid it would impact my security clearance.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Oct 1 at 2020 3:17 PM

2020-10-01T15:17:11-04:00

I will use soldier as an example but it applies to all service members.

We need to standardize the process. Unit leaders need training in regards to what PTSD is, who are the key medical agencies, what is the MEB process is, how can they best support soldiers with PTSD, what is the road map from identifying PTSD to medical retirement? We keep saying train to standards but we don't apply the philosophy to PTSD. What are the standards of care for soldiers with PTSD? This applies to unit leaders, mental health, MEB, family support.

The fact of the matter is we put more emphasis on training than helping soldiers with PTSD. In training there are Tasks, Conditions, and Standards. TACSOPS. Mission Essential Task List. What is the METL for soldiers with PTSD? I highly doubt we have something as simple and useful as a PTSD Counseling Checklist that can be used to plan and track the progression of events and care.

Soldiers with PTSD have a lot of fear in them which encompasses the pain of losing self control, losing the family, losing a career. We need to do a better job at communicating it is ok to ask for help and it is the right thing to do.

Get help and don't hurt yourself is not sufficient. When a soldier is down and the world becomes a bloody mess, without hesitation, who can he go to for help without having to think about it. Do I call the 1SG, mental health, 911, go to the emergency room, call friends?

In regards to don't hurt yourself. That does not suffice. We need to find that switch that turns off reasons to die with reasons to live. It makes life much safer and simpler.

We are remiss as a community and military for not establishing, enumerating, and espousing standards.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Oct 2 at 2020 2:52 PM

2020-10-02T14:52:10-04:00

The bottom line is the military pushes for standards but it does not have standards for those who have PTSD for their care, treatment by the COC, MEB. That makes absolutely no sense.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Oct 4 at 2020 5:42 AM

2020-10-04T05:42:34-04:00

Thank you for the great info brother Chris Meek

Response by SFC David S made Oct 10 at 2020 1:27 PM

2020-10-10T13:27:32-04:00

murder or suicide, been surrounded by Iranians and Muslims, by politicians that weren't even born in America, surrounding me with the enemy. i cant even leave my home or use my bank without running into the enemy. I've been oppressed; and I'm a real American and catholic as well. i don't want to go to prison, so my option is a bottle of pills. I'd like to thank the ignorant political party for ruining my life.
FYI Floyd was a career criminal and would have been killed in prison or one of his robberies....let's honor his memory by robbibng someone, wait, they are...

Response by Wayne Soares made Oct 10 at 2020 5:10 PM

2020-10-10T17:10:24-04:00

Great share brother Chris

Response by PO2 Lawrence Janiec made Nov 6 at 2020 10:52 AM

2020-11-06T10:52:46-05:00

I stopped reading at some point, because my experiences with how the VA handles Veterans with mental health is, well, sad. I also was getting really sick of all of the people I used to have on my friends lists on various social media outlets who used to post things about how they would talk on the phone all night to talk someone out of suicide. But when I reached out to some of those people, I would usually get a response about how they are busy, could they talk later? Or in one case a (now former) friend said that I should reach out to someone. I was like, I AM reaching out to someone... you! And that person still kept on about how I should just talk to someone else.

Something I used to say all the time on active duty: Talk Is Cheap.

You can say you'll do something all day long, but until you actually DO it, it's just words. One of the last times I bothered with the VA and their mental health services, they REQUIRED me to sit through a presentation that was an hour and 20 minutes long, only to tell me that I'm not eligible for any of the programs at the very end. Well gosh, if I wasn't eligible, why did you make me sit through that? To taunt me with all these wonderful programs and like hold the carrot in front of me and yank it away?

People that claim they care about mental health patients sometimes really are completely insensitive to how they treat them. I know you need help, and we have all these great programs that we just told you about, but no, we aren't going to let you take part in any of them.

How am I supposed to feel after that? And yeah, since it was mentioned elsewhere, the VA gives all this money to people to try to prevent suicide, but then when people reach out they are bullied and more or less pushed into going through with it. I guess if more Veterans kill themselves, then the VA won't have to pay to support them any more, right?