The Full Story: Veterans And Suicide

FYI: Warning Signs And Where Those At Risk Can Get Help 

Hopelessness

Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge

Acting in a reckless or risky way

Feeling trapped, like there’s no way out

Saying or feeling there’s no reason for living

For more on mental health services at the Dept of Veterans Affairs, click here or call the VA’s suicide hotline at 800.273.TALK (8255).

Experts on suicide prevention say for veterans there are some particular signs to watch for.

Calling old friends, particularly military friends, to say goodbye

Cleaning a weapon that they may have as a souvenir

Visits to graveyards

Obsessed with news coverage of the war, the military channel

Wearing their uniform or part of their uniform, boots, etc

Talking about how honorable it is to be a soldier

Sleeping more (sometimes the decision to commit suicide brings a sense of peace of mind, and they sleep more to withdraw)

Becoming overprotective of children

Standing guard of the house, perhaps while everyone is asleep staying up to "watch over" the house, obsessively locking doors, windows

If they are on medication, stopping medication and/or hording medication

Hording alcohol — not necessarily hard alcohol, could be wine

Spending spree, buying gifts for family members and friends "to remember by"

Defensive speech "you wouldn’t understand," etc.

Stop making eye contact or speaking with others

For a wallet-size card titled "What to do you if you think someone is having suicidal thoughts," click here.

Hotline for Veterans
Veterans who need help immediate counseling should call the hotline run by Veterans Affairs professionals at 1-800-273-TALK and press 1 identifying themselves as military veterans. Staff members are specially trained to take calls from military veterans and its staffed 24 hours a day, everyday. While all operators are trained to help veterans, some are also former military.

Clinical Care
To find the closest Dept of Veterans Affairs facility to you that has mental health professionals, go to this Web site and type in your zip code.

Veterans Affairs Health Benefits

Read more about what benefits are available to veterans

To find out more about what kind of services returning service members qualify for, check out this summary at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, "PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see or that happens to you. During this type of event, you think that your life or others’ lives are in danger. You may feel afraid or feel that you have no control over what is happening."

Those who have experienced a life-threatening event can develop PTSD. These can include:

Combat or military exposure

Child sexual or physical abuse

Terrorist attacks

Sexual or physical assault

Serious accidents, such as a car wreck.

Natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake.

For those who have PTSD, there are generally four types of symptoms:

Reliving the event

Avoiding situations that remind you of the event

Feeling numb

Feeling keyed up — on alert and on the lookout for danger

The National Center for PTSD offers this information in a tipsheet, and notes: "after the event, you may feel scared, confused, and angry. If these feelings don’t go away or they get worse, you may have PTSD. These symptoms may disrupt your life, making it hard to continue with your daily activities."

Air Force Suicide Prevention Program

Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
410.671.4656

Navy Environmental Health Center’s Suicide Prevention site
757.953.0959

Marine Corps Suicide Prevention Program

National Center for PTSD
802.296.6300

Suicide Prevention Action Network USA
Phone: 202.449.3600
Fax: 202.449.3601
E-mail: info@spanusa.org

Nonprofit group Give An Hour

SAMHSA’s National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
800.273.8255
TTY: 800.799.4889

On November 6, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act. It’s named after a soldier who committed suicide in Grundy County, Iowa, in December 2005, after serving an 11-month tour in Iraq. The bill requires the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to meet deadlines in providing the following services:

Train VA staff on suicide prevention and mental health care

Staff each VA medical facility with a suicide prevention counselor

Screen soldiers who seek care through the VA for mental health needs

Support outreach and education for veterans and their families

Research the most effective strategies for suicide prevention

Create a peer support counseling program so veterans can help other veterans

However, while the bill requires the VA to provide these services, it provides no new funding.

Go to original article

"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on Veterans Today may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.

The opinions expressed on Veterans Today are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff as a whole.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Veterans Today has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Veterans Today endorsed or sponsored by the originator. Any opinions expressed by the author(s) are not necessarily those of Veterans Today or representative of any staff member at Veterans Today.)

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=2929