Military Suicide Rate Jumps 16%: We Must Do More

Again, the true and enduring cost of war illustrates how little politicians thought about the long-term ramifications of a decade of war.  These young men and women that took their lives survived unspeakable horrors overseas, TBI, other related injuries.  As a nation we have let them down.  The VA continues to struggle, in an outmoded business model, understaffed and underfunded.  The practitioners in the VA healthcare system are left with little option but to show compassion and do the best they know how, given extreme limitations on time and resources.

The DOD says that they have instituted successful programs to improve education, behavioral health services and access, and service member resiliency.  Go ahead folks, pat yourselves on the back.  Your programs have been so 'successful' that the suicide rate in the military jumped 16%.  Great job.

Then there's the other, more disturbing statistic:  According to the IAVA, the VA estimates that 18 veterans take their lives DAILY.  All the while, the useless bureaucrats at the VA are tilting at windmills and spending millions of dollars on pipe dreams and long shot research while ignoring the major problem the VA encounters on a daily basis - too many administrators, not enough caregivers.

The concerted efforts of the DOD and the VA are equivalent to putting a band-aid on a sucking chest wound.  While some can justifiably argue that the increasing suicide rate amongst active service members is a result of ten years of conflict, how do they justify the fact that they provide no support network for recently separated veterans who are in distress?  Does anyone think it's a coincidence that veterans with behavioral issues like PTSD, Acute Anxiety, and Depression don't come forward for help?  Most of the time veterans return to uneducated family members that don't understand what the veteran is going through.  Some take the time to understand their veteran.  Many don't and chalk up the changes as their veteran being an ass or a 'pussy'.  This ends up isolating our veterans without a support network with many holing themselves up in their homes and only having contact with the outside world through the internet.  The more they withdraw, the more time they have to get too far into their own heads.  They want to come forward to get help, but are fearful of the stigma they think they will face coming forward.

It's time to change this conversation and put pressure on our politicians, business leader, and everyday citizens to demand they step forward to care for the 1% willing to protect and ensure everyone else's freedoms.  The state of the behavioral health care system in the country is a disgrace.  The infrastructure is archaic and outmoded, unable to reach the people who need their help the most.  The conversation we should be having:  How do we change the system to best reach those that are at risk and isolated?  No one hears a cry for help in a shuttered room.

I implore you.  Share this message with everyone you know.  Send a copy to your Congressman, your Senator.  Stand up and be heard, stand up in solidarity so that we can end this epidemic.

Yours in Health,

Max Harris