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Two-fold increase in Fort Hood Suicides
They would not listen, as the song goes, perhaps they never will. The Army does not seem to get the fact that the shootings at Fort Hood would do a lot more damage than had already been done to the troops for this simple reason, this was their safe place. I knew what was coming and warned about it in November.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Hood sees two-fold increase in suicides from prior yearDid it do any good to have predicted this would happen well over a year ago?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Aftermath of Fort Hood shootings may be worse
As the news reports kept coming out today about the carnage at Fort Hood, my greatest fears were not for today, but for the next few months ahead. No one is talking about “secondary stressors” and this needs to be addressed quickly.
There are crisis teams heading there according to the press briefing by Lt. Gen. Robert Cone. This is one of the best things they can do. I spent months taking this kind of training and it is very thorough. The issue that we need to be concerned about is when there are thousands of soldiers, combat soldiers with multiple tours, many of them are dealing with mild PTSD. Mild PTSD is not that hard to cope with. They live pretty normal lives while covering up the pain they have inside. Many even cope well the rest of their lives but many do not. Like a ticking time bomb, PTSD rests waiting to strike if untreated. It waits for the next traumatic event and then mild PTSD turns into PTSD on steroids.
These are the soldiers that will need the greatest help as soon as possible.
These bases are very well secured. That makes the soldiers and their families feel safe. Think about going into combat and then making it home alive where you are supposed to be safe. Then having this happen.
I was at Fort Hood in March. I had an auto rental and even though I had a military issued ID, that was not good enough at the guard house. I had to show my rental agreement every time I drove onto the base. Even if you have a Department of Defense sticker on your car, you still have to show your military ID. That makes them feel they are safe. Then away from harm, away from combat, they end up having to face something like this from not only one of their own, but a Major and a Doctor who is supposed to be there for them, trying to kill them.
Crisis teams will address the traumatic events of today, but the soldiers that have already been involved in traumatic events cutting into them will need far greater help than anyone is really prepared to deliver. This is my greatest fear for them.
Then we have troops from Fort Hood and other bases deployed into Iraq and Afghanistan wondering who they can trust now after one of their own did something like this. None of this is good and the aftermath may be worse than this day itself.
This is what did not have to happen.
Army: 22 suicides in 2010 at Fort Hood
One was Army Sgt. Douglas Hale Jr., who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after completing his second tour in 2007. He texted his mother, Glenda Moss, on July 6 asking forgiveness before shooting himself to death in a restaurant bathroom near Fort Hood.During the last week of September, four soldiers committed suicide.
Despite suicide prevention efforts, Hood sees twofold increase in suicides from prior year; some say shooting massacre may have been contributing factor
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=71462
Posted by Chaplain Kathie on Jan 6 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Veterans Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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All these military shrinks are running around trying to stop the bleeding without the courage and inner strength to take a stand against multiple deployments. If these wars were in self-defense of our families and towns there would be a draft and rationing. We would all be in it together like almost happened after 9/11 till the powers manipulated the truth and the people for whatever reason I dont know. I was in Vietnam as a First Cav. Airmoble Grunt for 3 months before I figured out that I had been manipulated by others to create an enemy to protect my brothers in arms from. The military and politicians depend on the social psychology of bonding under fear and stress to take care of each other. This is done at the cost of the individuals integrity which is sacrificed for group-think. In the heat of the battle survival and taking care or each other seems to cloud the reasons we are sent there in the first place. The soldier of today is no different then the Vietnam generation of soldiers even though there is no draft. The wars are unnecessary and the main difference is the multiple deployments since we really have sort of a back door draft with all the stop-loss, Nat. Guard and breaches of contracts that have been the norm. So a therapist in order to be effective may have to take on the authorities that have allowed multiple deployments since that is one of the main causes of the mental health reactions and suicides not even considering the morally bankrupt policies that got us there. What has actually happened here is that many “prestigious” universities and teaching hospitals have recieved multiple millions of dollars not to study the mind and hearts of the decision makers who took us to this hell but to build “emotional resilience” in the soldier so he or she can have many years in the war zone without major emotional deterioration. They were even taking single mothers from their babies to fight their wars and probably still are. Now who amongst our profession of helpers is willing to take on this elephant in the room? Very few indeed. The APA and other professional organiztions have only given a look at some of the torture but thats just a symptom of the bigger issue of the corrupted hearts and minds of most of our political and military leaders. Anyway just some food for thought.
You are right and several years ago the Army did a study on redeployments. They increase the risk of PTSD by 50% but they kept doing it and didn’t bother to do anything on the other end. There are very few taking a stand for their sake. Maybe they figure if the troops are willing to die anyway, let them. I hate to think that is true but there has been too many years of research done and very little done to fix the problem so that survivors can survive living after combat.
There have been many scandals there. The fact that so many happened in one week and did not make sense, make me think that there is something more sinister going on.
Maybe you’re right. But let’s take a look at the facts as they are so far. Fort Hood is a massive base the size of a small city. Go there and you see a food court just like at any mall with Moms and Dads walking around with small kids, teenagers hanging out but you see uniforms too. No guns on any of them. That is where they live. It is where their families live. They are supposed to be safe on their own base. It was their last safe zone where their lives were not supposed to be in danger and where their families were supposed to be protected. They not only got the message they were not safe anywhere at anytime but their families were not safe either. Hassan took that all away but so did the military itself.
They promoted him no matter what he said. They put him in a position where he was supposed to take care of their mental health even though he hated them and what they were doing. That sent a loud, clear message as well that the DOD didn’t really care about them.
This all added to the fact that they needed help to recover from IED bombs blowing up, snipers picking them off along with everything else. The fact that the Army knew redeployments increased the risk of PTSD but they kept sending them back over and over again. That 60% of the chaplains used to make up for the lack of mental health professionals were more interested in converts than helping them heal. That they were given medications no matter what they did to them so they could just serve out their time. All of this topped off by a public with no interest and no media attention to remind them there was still two wars going on.
Sinister? I think that is enough just as it is and none of this had to happen.
Our country is going to experience an ugly side of the consequences of multiple deployments in a combat zone.PTSD is prevalent in every one of these military members.When they are repatriated back to CONUS they are met with varying degrees of support.
The military still expects them to be the proud soldiers they are while families try to cope with a different person from what they knew prior to their deployment.The civilian population is beginning to treat them differently as only Viet Nam Era Vets understand.Crimes related to the horrors of war and warped minds are beginning to increase in our cities,neighborhoods and families.
The Ft. Lewis and McCHord AFB joint command is recognized as the most problemed base of all our military.Every base and community is experiencing the consequences of redeployment on top of redeployment.The tip of the ice berg has yet to be seen.Our discharged military will commit crimes because of their lack of re-entry counseling and followup.They will be locked away in prison forgotten about with a clear conscience.That will be the shame of America and of it’s elected leaders who don’t give a rat’s patootie as long as profit continues to fill their coffers
In 1978 the DAV commissioned a study on PTSD. Back then there were 500,000 Vietnam vets with different degrees of PTSD and there was a warning the numbers would go up over the following ten years. They went up and so did the suicides, incarcerations, divorces and homeless veteran population. We’re already seeing this repeated now with Iraq and Afghanistan but these operations are still putting more at risk. While troops are being pulled out of Iraq more are heading into Afghanistan and more are surviving horrific wounds. This means the numbers across all branches will be higher plus the IED blasts add more witnesses/survivors. There is a catastrophic tsunami heading in and no one is ready so more will suffer and more will die after war than during it. The honest truth they are missing is that if they don’t pay the debt now to get them help as soon as possible it will cost even more in the long run.
One important problem with trying to help a soldier or even a veteran at times with their suffering from war hell is that the military, thanks to the Pentagons perversion of psychological techniques, has done such an excellent job of endoctrinating the soldier into resisting resistance to the brainwashing. Fear of being humiliated, kicked out of the military, not making rank, being looked at as less then a man or manly woman, and not wanting to let the troops down, has brought about a situation of the soldiers themselves not willing or able to accept the kind of treatment that may help them realize that they are an individual with human rights and dignity that go beyond military, family, group-think, and false oaths. So the soldiers themselves do hold some of the responsibilty and karma for their own actions and suffering and until they take out the true sword of the warrior, it is diffficult for a chaplain or therapist or compassionate family member to break through the robotic, stoic and at times angry or emotionally resiliant armour. There is little meaning in their experience without a deep searching for “what are these government hands? where did I get this government gun? who am I?, when the military too completely defines who we are and a big part of the culture through politicians and the media back up this identity, it takes a hell of a true warrior to think and do otherwise. “Always faithful” sometimes means being faithful to ones self-integrity even at the cost of the group, especially if the group is jumping off the cliff or turning on the ovens. These may sound like exaggerations but having been in combat in an immoral war, I speak from experience, but not resentment, but compassion for the ignorance of the military, the soldiers, and those that send them. The true non-violent wrath of those of us who know this is yet to be manifested. Don’t miss the train.
You are right that it is hard for people to break through the wall but not impossible if they understand what is going on. I wouldn’t be doing this work had it not been for my husband. He’s a Vietnam vet and I made sure I understood what PTSD is so that I could understand him, then help him.
Veterans are the most unique people in this country. Even when they did not agree on the reasons behind what sent them into combat, they would risk their lives for the others they served with. This came no matter if they were drafted or enlisted. They are still individuals with their own lives just like everyone else but unlike everyone else thinking of “self” they think of others. At least that is the way most veterans I know think but not to say all of them.
1/10/11 0915 hrs … A moment of silience for today another Ft Hood veteran…
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2011/01/10/fort_hood_soldier_found_dead_a.html