Posted on Jun 30, 2015
CPT Military Police
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About one in five servicemembers are impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury
20 percent of suicides in the U.S. are former servicemembers
One currently serving member died every 36 hours during the period 2005-2010
18 veterans die a day, or one suicide every 80 minutes

http://www.moaa.org/Main_Menu/Take_Action/Top_Issues/Serving_in_Uniform/DoD-VA_Mental_Health_and_Suicide_Prevention_Efforts.html
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Edited 9 y ago
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COL Charles Williams
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We do more training on suicide prevention than ever. The frustrating an vexing thing, is we could not seem to make an impact. I am a few years removed, but I believe our impact his still be minimal. But, apparently the trend is declining.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/01/16/defense-department-suicides-2013-report/21865977/
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SGT William Howell
SGT William Howell
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I believe the Army has hit this head on. When I returned in '05 they were already attacking suicide. It has only become better as time has went on.
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SSG John Erny
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This is something that has affected me personally, I am not going to go into the details but I can tell you that the pain lingers. If someone is hell bent on killing them self it will be very challenging to change that mind frame. The only thing you can do is call 911 and get them committed to a mental health hospital. The technical term for this is someone in crisis. Unless you a trained mental health professional do not try to help the person, you could through your good intentions make the situation far worse, they may even turn on you. Call 911. I have.
The second condition is someone who is at risk; they need to see a professional also or perhaps even a member of the clergy but are not in the act of doing it. If you are a trusted friend or family member see that they get the help they need. You have to try, the burden of having done nothing is heavy.
The third condition is someone who needs to vent, blow off some steam or they just need a friend. Be that friend. This perhaps the most important thing a non professional can do. Prevent the condition from deteriorating to the point of no return.
I was the suicide prevention peer counselor for my unit. It is not a skill that you ever want to have to use if you attend the training for this position. Be damn sure that you can do the job before you accept the position.
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1SG Military Police
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It's an annual requirement at a minimum. Typically, we conduct Suicide Prevention training in the summer during Annual Training and in the Fall/Winter during annually required briefings. No matter whose statistics you believe (the VA study says 22 a day, a recent dispute to that study claims 1 a day), even one is too many.
COL Charles Williams I agree that from a leadership standpoint it seems never ending (we lost 2 in my second MP unit after deployment to suicide & I have witnessed at least two ideations in my current unit in the last year). I attribute the large numbers to the compounding effect of year after year of GWOT.
I take heart in the fact that I am experiencing more calls for help and less successful attempts. My hope is that the commitment to conduct Suicide Prevention training combined with a dedicated funding source to send Soldiers to become ASIST trained has given Soldiers in crisis the confidence that there will be someone to support them.
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