Suicide Prevention Alliance Focuses on Troops, Veterans

Suicide Prevention Alliance Focuses on Troops, Veterans

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2011 - A suicide prevention task force for troops and veterans has been added to a national alliance that officials hope will help bring more attention to the issues and offer solutions in the future.

The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention last week announced that troops and veterans -– identified as a high-risk group –- were added because of their increased suicide rates.

"Combined with initiatives already under way by the Department of Defense and the [Department of Veterans Affairs], this task force will further strengthen prevention, bringing together the best minds in the public and private sectors," said Army Secretary John McHugh, co-chair of the alliance.

The alliance was launched last year by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, with input and support of many public- and private-sector stakeholders, including the National Council for Suicide Prevention and VA.

Speaking Sept. 10, 2010 at the launch of the alliance -- a public-private partnership -- Gates emphasized the importance of a nationwide approach to suicide prevention. The alliance's strategy pools federal and private-sector research and resources to work on addressing the national suicide rate.

"In everything we do, we must remember that every soldier, sailor, airman, or marine is part, not just of the military, but also a larger community. Their families, their hometowns, their civilian employers, their places of worship –- all must be involved in the solution," Gates said at the launch of the alliance held at the National Press Club here.

The military suicide rate has increased steadily over the past five years, exceeding the national average of 11.1 suicides per 100,000 people. The military last year averaged 12.5 suicides per 100,000, according DOD reports.

The leaders of the alliance's Military and Veterans Task Force are Dr. Jan Kemp, national director of VA's suicide prevention program, and Maggie Haynes, director of combat stress for the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization.

In addition to the task force for service members and veterans, the alliance also established suicide-prevention task forces for other groups it determined are at high risk: American Indians and Alaska natives, and youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender

 

Jerald Terwilliger National Chairman American Cold War Veterans

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Female military/veterans Suicide Risk

It is not just the male military members and veterans that are at high risk for suicide. Young female
veterans are almost three times more likely to commit suicide than non-veterans. The young are also
more likely to do so than older veterans.

Women in the 18 to 34 age bracket are at the highest risk, followed by those aged 35 to 44; and those
aged 45 to 64 were in the lowest risk group.

Data from 16 states, part of the National Violent Death Reporting System show that between 2004 and
2007, 5,948 female suicides in the age group 18 to 34 there were 56 suicides among 418,132 or a ratio
of 1 in 7,465. That was compared to 1,461 out of 33,257,362 non-veterans or 1 out of 22,763.

This should be a wake-up call to care givers and doctors to be more aware of warning signs, and to
take preventative action. Women can be forgotten and left out.

Women veterans also face very high homeless rates, and those with children are even more vulnerable.

The Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Please write that number
down and share it with every veteran you know who is going through depression and/or PTSD and
might be at risk.

So America it is time to stand together for all veterans, demand that every one of them be given
the proper care they need.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember"

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Veteran and Military Suicide Rates Still Climbing

 The Department of Defense has give Florida State University a 17 million dollar grant to attempt to
find out why more Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are committing suicide than those who fought
in previous US wars.

More than 1,100 veterans have died at their own hand between 2005 and 2009. This pushes the veteran
suicide rate higher than the general population, while in the past the rate has been lower than the general population.

The three year long grant and research will try to find the cause and attempt to develop a treatment.

So not only are veterans becoming homeless at a rate greater than normal, but also they are turning to
drugs, alcohol and other methods to ease their pain and suffering. When those attempts fail, and the
veteran does not get help, they fall back on the only thing that will stop the anguish; they take their
own lives.

Something must be done, and done quickly to stop this horrific and needless torture our veterans face
every day.

It is time for our country to step up and accept the fact that veterans are being ignored, misdiagnosed, and mistreated. We owe it to every man and women who ever wore a military uniform, and served our country; now we must serve them.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember"

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

VA Suicide Hot Line

VA Taking Life-Saving Campaign to Streets 

WASHINGTON (Oct. 19. 2010)- This week, nearly 1,200 life-saving

advertisements will go up on city buses, bus shelters, rail and subway

stations across the Nation displaying a message of hope for those who

have served their country and may be facing an emotional crisis. The

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is advertising its Suicide

Prevention Hotline through Jan. 9, 2011.

"I know of one Veteran who saw these signs on a bus shelter, called the

hotline, and came to VA for help that same day," said VA Secretary Eric

K. Shinseki. "That Veteran had been walking out to the desert to take

his own life. There are thousands of other Veterans like him who are

still with us today as a direct result of the hotline. It's important

that we get the word out to everyone who put their lives on the line in

defense of this Nation."

Since its inception in July 2007, VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline,

1-800-273-TALK (8255), has saved more than 10,000 Veterans and provided

counseling for more than 180,000 Veterans and their loved ones at home

and overseas. The hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week

by trained mental health professionals prepared to deal with immediate

crises. The hotline also offers an anonymous online chat feature

available at www.suicidepreventionhotline.org

<http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org> . (Look for the chat feature

in the upper right hand box.) While implemented for Veterans, any person

who calls the hotline and needs help will receive it.

VA has marketed the hotline through mass transit campaigns since summer

of 2008, increasing the number of calls and lives saved with each city

the campaign has reached. VA is partnering with Blue Line Media

(www.BlueLineMedia.com) for the campaign, a transit advertising

<http://www.bluelinemedia.com/transit-advertising-media_4.html>  company

that specializes in helping business and government tell their stories

through transit advertising media, such as buses, bus shelters, benches,

subways, trains, airports, billboards and more.  

VA has also promoted awareness of the hotline through national public

service announcements featuring actor Gary Sinise and TV personality

Deborah Norville. The transit advertisements and both PSAs are available

for download via You Tube and at

www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention. 

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996