[acb-hsp] The Veteran Suicide Epidemic

[Baracco, Andrew W]

What is PTSAID?  I work with veterans and never have encountered this
term.  Is it like PTSD?

Andy


-----Original Message-----
From: acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf
Of peter altschul
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 1:57 PM
To: Acbhsp
Subject: [acb-hsp] The Veteran Suicide Epidemic

The Veteran Suicide Epidemic
  Rae Abileah, Alterationet June 13, 2012
  As the sun set on June 9th nearly 2,000 walkers in the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk
off down the grassy path toward the Golden Gate Bridge along the
promenade that hugs the bay.  The view was not only stunning but also
poignant: as the famous Golden Gate celebrated its 75th birthday earlier
this month, San Franciscans also mourned the loss of the 1,500 people
who have died by jumping over the edge.
  Last month I was riding BART to SF and read a statistic in
stTIMEST: 18 veterans die by suicide every day -- thatbs one every 80
minutes.  As the subway pulled up to my stop, I saw a large poster
advertising the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk to break the silence
about depression and suicide.  Then a couple of weeks
laterstationewsweekst ran a feature story veteran suicide.
  For years I've been a "Bring Our Troops Home" banner waving leftist,
attending anti-war marches and rallies more often than I ate ice cream.
So now that our troops are actually coming home from Iraq, many are
killing themselves.  Why? To dig deeper into the question, I decided to
join the Overnight, speak with fellow walkers, and do a little homework.
  Veteran Suicide -- A Predictable Epidemic?
  When Ryan Yurchison returned home from Iraq in 2007, his mom said he
was a shell of a man, consumed with tremors, flashbacks and a steadily
growing problem with drugs and alcohol.  While waiting for help from the
V.A.  and placement in an addiction program, Yurchison died of a drug
overdose believed to be suicide in May 2010.  The stationew York Timesst
reported "For every soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about
25 veterans are dying by their own hands." Last year over 6,500 veteran
suicides were recorded, which is "more than the total number of soldiers
killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since those wars began."
Military suicide rates increased 150% from 2001 to 2009, according to an
article in stUSA Today
  Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) started "Operation Recovery", a
campaign to fight for the rights of service members and veterans to
heal, and not be redeployed if experiencing PTSAID.  Too often, service
members with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSAID), military sexual
assault, or combat stress, are forced to redeploy rather than receiving
the support they so desperately need.
  It's clear that there's a correlation between sending soldiers off to
a warzone, asking them to do the unthinkable and dehumanize the alleged
"enemy," and the PTSAID that so often follows deployment.  Not only
should soldiers receive the care they need, but also those who redeploy
traumatized soldiers -- and the elected officials who created these
monstrous and unnecessary wars -- should be held accountable.  As
Nicholas Kristof wrote in his op-ed earlier this spring, "We refurbish
tanks after time in combat, but don't much help men and women exorcise
the demons of war.  Presidents commit troops to distant battlefields,
but don't commit enough dollars to veterans' 
services afterward."
  ininBringing Daylight to a Taboo Topic *
  During the Overnight, I talked with veterans and military family
members who were walking in memory of lost loved ones or as survivors
themselves.  One young woman vet told me her story of the military
sexual assault that led to PTSAID, which the military encouraged her to
be silent about.  The Overnight helped inspire her to start an
organization to help vets heal from trauma.  She carried a sign written
with glow sticks: "Honoring Vets and Military Wst Suicidal Issues."
  Walkers turned the taboo of suicide into a proverbial tattoo.  
They wore t-shirts honoring lost loved ones with iron-on images and
messages.  They proudly posted facebook status updates about their plans
to walk that generated open discussions in cyberspace.  Fundraising
emails solicited not only cash but also caring comments from friends who
shared their own stories of suicidality or loss.  Numerous walkers
described to me how the process of getting to the walk made them realize
they were not alone in their loss or pain.  In fact, 37,000 people in
the US die by suicide every year, making it the 10th leading cause of
death, so most of us have loved ones who have either survived depression
or escaped it through death.
  "You have raised more than $2.3 million dollars tonight!" AFSP
Executive Director Robert Gebbia declared during the closing ceremony at
dawn.  Each walker was required to raise $1,000, and clearly some went
far beyond the minimum.
  After hearing about the Susan G.  Komen Foundation debacle with
Planned Parenthood, and dubious reports about the Lance Armstrong
Foundation, I was skeptical about where all this money would go.  
A sandwich board on the field at Fort Mason proclaimed, "AFSP's
management and fundraising costs are only 15% of expenses, 85% goes to
programs." So where is that 85% headed? Some goes to projects such as
stM Than Sadst, which educates students about depression and teachers
about suicide prevention.  Most of it goes into research grants.  A
local AFSP board member explained to me that recently big pharmaceutical
companies were prohibited by law from giving large sums of money to
organizations such as AFSP.  Visibly absent were any Prozac swag, Zoloft
promotions or other bio-psychiatric propaganda aimed at propping up the
pharmaceutical industry.
  AFSP asserts that suicide can be prevented by "early recognition and
treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses." And while this
is crucial, a mental health advocate I contacted asserted a slightly
different perspective, "It's not about preventing suicide; it's about
giving people a reason to live." The scientific approach of diagnosing
the illness and prescribing a pill doesn't do much for dealing with the
root cause, which in the case of vets seems to be indisputably linked to
the trauma of warfare.
  Ethan McCord, the Army specialist whose PTSAID, after seeing two
bleeding children who died in a car bomb in Baghdad, became news in
stTIMEST two years ago, said "The Army's attitude was, 'Let's give this
guy drugs and hope they work because we're overbooked and don't have
time to deal with it." If they had understood what I was going through,
I think all of this could have been avoided."
  When I was in college on the Columbia University campus there was a
visible stigma around talking about suicide, so fellow classmates and I
founded Students Against Silence, a group to speak out about mental
health issues and create artistic events, poetry slams, and performances
to name the elephant and start healing together.  Then I found the
Icarus Project, a national project that seeks to re-envision the culture
and language surrounding "mental illness." The Icarus Project released a
flyer on suicide that seeks to reframe suicidal thoughts as an
opportunity for transformation:
  "Sometimes wanting to kill yourself just means you don't want to live
the life you're living.  You can change your life with that power.  What
the hell -- you were about to lose your whole life.  Why not instead
lose your school, job, pretenses, fears, adherence to society's
standards, shame.  I have found some of my suicidal episodes to be
strangely liberating in that way.  I wouldn't take back any of what made
me who I am today."
  ininWhere Are Our National Priorities? *
  The Overnight walk led us through Pacific Heights, home to
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Diane Feinstein.  I couldn't help
but wonder whether either of my elected leaders were aware of the walk,
or the grave need to increase funding for mental health and veteran
care.  In reality, Congress just dramatically increased military
spending on war and occupation when they approved the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA).
  As dawn broke, and a half moon glistened over the mess of walkers who
had crossed the finish line and were sprawled across the lawn at Fort
Mason, the luminaries highlighting the names of lost loved ones were
extinguished, but a new light shone brightly in the faces of the
exhausted walkers.  The walk helped bring suicide out of the darkness
and provide healing and hope for those who are suffering from loss or
depression.
  The parting message at the Overnight closing ceremony came from a
woman who has struggled with mental illness and depression.  
She said, "[I walk] for myself, for my family, and for countless people
at the bottom of their abyss.  My voice can save lives." 
Let's hope that Congress hears her voice, and the myriad other voices
clamoring for care, and a healthier society that values life-affirming
activities, like real, holistic healthcare, and affordable education,
over violence.
  Rae Abileah is the co-director of CODEPINK Women for Peace.  
She lives in Berkeley, CA, and can be reached at rae[at]codepinkddorg
and at raeabileah.
  ininB plus Alterationet Mobile Edition
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