Last week's tragedy at Fort Hood should be a real wake up call for action:
http://www.presstv.ir/...
Ivan Lopez, the man US military officials say opened fire Wednesday at Fort Hood, Texas, killing three and wounding sixteen, reportedly suffered from depression and anxiety, and had trouble sleeping.
Doctors prescribed him a number of drugs, and evaluated him for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to Secretary of the Army John McHugh, who spoke to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, nothing on his record or in a psychiatric evaluation last month indicated he would harm himself or others.
If the shooting shocks and discomforts, the fact that more than half of all service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan say their mental or physical health is worse after their deployment should, too. Lopez’s act of mass violence distinguishes him from his fellow service members; still, he appears to have shared with many others the experience of coming home to a country unprepared to meet his needs. Of the 2.6 million men and women sent to Iraq and Afghanistan or to supporting operations overseas, more than half report that the government is failing to meet their needs. Nearly 60 percent say the Department of Veterans Affairs is doing only a fair or poor job. And one in two know another service member who, like Lopez, committed or attempted suicide.
Since at least 2008, more American soldiers have killed themselves at home than have died abroad. The VA has responded by expanding its mental health funding and adding thousands of people to its mental health staff. But less than a quarter of veterans are enrolled in the agency’s health care system, and more than a third of enrolled veterans who sought psychiatric appointments in 2013 faced at least a two week wait.
“Frankly, we have got to do more,” Vermont Senator and Veterans Affairs committee chair Bernie Sanders said Thursday on MSNBC. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of men and women. So if we’re serious about reaching out and helping those people, we’ve got to provide the resources to do that.” - Press TV, 4/4/14
And Senator John Walsh (D. MT) is taking the lead in pushing for action:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
The Fort Hood shooting is an extreme and shocking example of what has become a chronic concern for the military: soldiers with mental-health problems taking their own lives.
And it's not just the active-duty military who face what has become an increasingly daunting problem.
At least 22 veterans commit suicide each day, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. This adds up to more than 2,000 veterans killing themselves so far this year alone, and the military community is facing what advocates refer to as a suicide epidemic.
To help address the growing problem, Democratic Sen. John Walsh of Montana introduced legislation last week that includes provisions to force the Pentagon to reexamine troops who were discharged for PTSD-related behaviors—which can include nightmares, flashbacks, changes in personality, sleeping disorders, and suicidal thoughts.
The bill also expands veterans' eligibility to enroll in VA health care from five to 15 years after leaving the military. The current system doesn't take into account the fact that some veterans have a delayed reaction to trauma after they leave the service, according to veterans' advocates.
Walsh, who is one of the first Iraq War combat veterans to serve in the Senate, is also a member of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which backs the bill. Fifty-one percent of Iraq or Afghanistan War veterans know someone who has attempted or committed suicide, according to a Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation survey released this week.- National Journal, 4/3/14
Here's some more details on Walsh's bill:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/...
Among other measures, Sen. Walsh's bill would:
Extend combat veterans' eligibility for VA health care to 15 years from the current 5-year limit;
Seek to increase the number of mental health care professionals at VA facilities by repaying medical school loans for psychiatrists who commit to long-term service in the VA;
Require the VA to review the health care benefit eligibility of combat soldiers who may have been wrongfully discharged because of behavior related to post-traumatic stress syndrome; and
Require the VA and Department of Defense to ensure that VA mental health care providers have special training to identify veterans at-risk for suicide.
And Walsh is not alone in this call for action:
http://mtstandard.com/...
Last week, veterans from Montana and all over our great nation went to Washington, D.C., to tell lawmakers that swift action is needed to combat military suicide. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America planted 1,892 small U.S. flags on the National Mall, representing the estimated number of military members and veterans who have died by suicide so far this year.
Standing with these concerned warriors was Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., who led an infantry battalion of the Montana National Guard in the Iraq war. It isn’t surprising that the first Iraq combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate would champion the cause of suicide prevention. And it is especially fitting that Walsh has introduced the legislation because Montana has long been a leader in upgrading suicide and PTSD screening for warriors returning from combat.
Spurred to action by the suicide of a Montana guardsman who had returned home from Iraq combat, the Montana National Guard joined forces with mental health advocates and devised more thorough suicide risk screenings and outreach services to guardsmen and families. As head of the Montana National Guard, Walsh himself oversaw implementation of the Yellow Ribbon Campaign designed to connect guardsmen and families to mental health resources. - The Montana Standard, 4/4/14
And we need action on this now more than ever:
http://www.citizen-times.com/...
As U.S. combat operations wind down, we must focus greater attention on those warriors who come home so badly wounded emotionally that they wind up taking their own lives.
Operations in Iraq already have ceased, and the U.S. is in the process of withdrawing from a combat role in Afghanistan. In March, for the first time in more than a decade, no U.S. troops died in combat in those areas of operation. There were two deaths in Afghanistan among other coalition forces, but neither was combat-related.
Since we first went to war in the wake of 9/11, combat has claimed more than 6,600 U.S. lives. Roughly two dozen of them have ties to Western North Carolina.
In the first three months of 2014 there were just 12 deaths, seven of which were combat-related. During the same period, however, nearly 1,900 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars committed suicide. Some of those acts may have been brought on by factors far removed from the war zone, but it’s a safe bet most were combat-related.
More than half of the 2.6 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan struggle with physical or mental health problems, and many of them know a colleague who has attempted or committed suicide, according to the Washington Post. - Citizen-Times, 4/4/14
If you would like more information on the Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, please contact Senator Walsh's office for more details:
(202) 224-2651
http://www.walsh.senate.gov/...