MILITARY
SUICIDE RATE UNACCEPTABLE AND
ARE PREVENTABLE
TAGS:
SUICIDE, ROBIN WILLIAMS SUICIDE COVERAGE,
MILITARY
VETERANS SUICIDE RATE, VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
FAILING
RETURNING VETERANS, EACH LIFE VALUED,
OUR
WARS FOUGHT BY LESS THAN 1% OF OUR POPULATION,
NO
COMMON EXPERIENCES
(Tuesday August 12, 2014
NYC) Given the tumultuous state of
affairs around the world, the eruptions of ancient tribal and religious blood
feuds, the brutal atrocities of ethnic cleansing from the Kurdish region of a
broken Iraq and wide swathes of Africa and Russian aggression in Ukraine as
they seek to reinvent themselves as a “super power”, it is difficult to justify
the blanket media coverage of the untimely demise of an actor. Yes, Robin Williams was an actor of
extraordinary talents and gifts. His
illustrious career spanned decades from his earliest days on TV to cinematic achievements
that brought him acclaim and fortune. As
an entertainer and cultural figure whose roles brought cinematic happiness to
the masses his untimely death by suicide has evoked a torrent of media
attention as well as heartfelt testimonies from his colleagues and peers. The body of work he leaves behind exemplifies
the range and depth of the characters he brought to life on the stages large
and small. Clearly the fact that this
man who appeared to have it all; fame, fortune and Hollywood’s respect found
himself trapped in a spiral of darkness and despair of such hypnotic power that
lead him to take his own life adds to the larger picture while calling
attention to the very real neuropathology of depression, despair and suicide. Some can empathize, others might be able to
relate to that condition more than others, but suicide still retains its
fundamental secrets that often allow a tortured soul to be devoid of external
symptoms. Yes, clinical depression and suicide
are inexorably linked in some circumstances but one need not draw a person into
the other. No matter what precisely brought
Mr. Williams to that moment of irreversible decision will likely never be
known, his life can be celebrated and eulogized by those he left behind and by
the millions of fans who came to know him via his comedic and dramatic
characters. But, in another more
anonymous segment of the population suicide is a frequent occurrence.
On any given day of the year
22 military veterans take their own lives.
Suicide among our veteran population is at epidemic proportions yet
little, if any; attention is paid to this tragic reality. The young men and women our country has asked
so much of over the last 13 years often return home after multiple deployments
with shattered nerves and a host of mental illness including Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD). Our military
incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq have created a generation of battle tested
warriors who frequently find themselves lost once they hang up their uniforms
and attempt to reenter society. For far
too many this challenge dwarfs the hardships of the numerous firefights, the multiple
deployments, the surreal sense of “differentness” they encounter once they
return home for good.
THE SILENT MINORITY
Since 1973 our military has
been composed entirely of volunteers.
President Nixon eliminated the Selective Service Draft completely by the
time our troops were leaving the South Vietnamese to their own devices after 11
or so years of United States military engagement on their behalf. When military service was required virtually
every family had a member who had been or was in the active duty military. That shared, common experience was a bond
that provided all American families and, most obviously, the military veterans
themselves with a sense of familiarity.
Now our military services represent less than 1percent of the entire
population. The sense of shared
experiences and sacrifices has largely evaporated along with conscription.
What merits our attention,
outrage, and ultimately our action, says a great deal about the culture, the
society we live in. We as a country ask great efforts and sacrifices from those
few among us who answer the call of their own to voluntarily serve their
country in uniform. Gone are the days of shared sacrifice. Long ago is the time
when going into the “service” was a rite of passage for men in times of peace
and times of struggle. When our elected leaders had that common service
experience among them, they were much less willing to ask other young men (and
women) to go and serve in armed combat, to put lives “in harm’s way”. When our
leaders were familiar with the brutality and horrors of war, the nuts and bolts
of close combat and all that it entails, they recognized exactly what it meant
to send troops to defend our national interest, our “National Security”. Now the burden is borne by a mere fraction of
the population and the hell of war for the rest of us is reduced to short film
clips on the news. We can little imagine or appreciate what stresses our troops
incur having to live hyper vigilantly in horrid environments with the very real
specter of their own deaths as well as the taking of others’ lives is a major
constant component of their reality.
Wracked by profound cases of
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), thousands of young war veterans continue
to live the horrors of their battlefield experiences, many spiraling down into
the darkness of severe depression, many self-medicating with excessive alcohol
and drug intake, while others among them, many others, having sought relief
from their suffering by killing themselves. Yet, what merits the national
attention, which tragic circumstance is embraced as the latest cause celebre’
by famous actors and artists, and what has come to define the suicide debate
among us? Clearly, it is not the ongoing
crisis in the ranks of our military service personnel, both veterans as well as
active duty. After almost 13 years of continuous war on two disparate fronts,
years of multiple deployments, inadequate mental health care resources, and
increasingly greater demands placed on their young shoulders, the men and women
of our military have become largely forgotten by the media and their fellow
Americans. That is tragic for everyone on both sides of the equation.
DISPARITY
A person of Mr. Williams’s
wealth has access to the best medical and psychiatric care if they choose to
seek health for their problems. Veterans
have no such luxury. The Veterans
Administration system has completely collapsed under the weight of the waves of
returning veterans who require medical attention, rehabilitation after
horrendous battlefield injuries and mental health services in both the long and
short term. We have witnessed the abject
hose who serve ineptitude in the VA ‘s inability to carry out its mission; the
special code that exists between our veterans and our government that says all
those who have served will be taken care of.
The VA has been exposed as just another stumbling, bumbling federal bureaucracy
incapable of functioning efficiently and effectively. The useless Congressional “oversight” committees
tasked with assuring the VA receives proper funding through the appropriations
process and is delivering on the code between our vets and our government is
being honored, might as well not exist for all the good they do. They continue to cut funding that forces the
VA to reduce services at a time of such tremendous need. Perhaps if we actually had a fair number of
veterans in Congress more attention would be paid to these issues but even that
is unlikely given the obvious inability for Congress to carry out even the most
basic of their tasks.
EVERY LIFE VALUED
There are some experts in the
field of psychiatry, psychology and the neurosciences who believe that every
suicide is preventable. Sometimes all it
takes for a person to snap out of the dark magnetic pull of preparing to kill
themselves is a loud noise, a phone ringing or a knock on the door. That particular spell can be broken but most
people who do commit suicide have made previous attempts and despite all methods
of interventions and treatments, those most determined to end their lives by
their own hands in that uniquely solitary and isolated manner will ultimately
succeed.
Years of studies and statistics
offer scant details beyond the basics such as demographics and precipitating
events as they attempt to better understand the underlying pathologies and
signs of a suicidal person. But, most
people who do kill themselves can conceal their pain and intentions very
effectively because they are determined and dedicated to their decision. There are some people who think it through,
perhaps even plot and plan it down to the minutest detail imbued in the
knowledge that the day will come when they will take their exit from this temporal
existence. While many claim that suicide
is the ultimate selfish, cowardly act; a permanent solution to temporary problems,
they simply do not understand the suicidal mind. For some, yes, it is an impulsive act carried
out hastily with little or no real thought but they are in the minority.
Suicide since the days of
antiquity was a taboo, an unnatural usurpation of God’s (who ever that God may
or may not be) that would surely banish the suicide to an eternal existence of
abject misery and unfathomable punishment. It was not very long ago that Roman
Catholicism doctrine forbade a suicide to have a memorial funeral Mass and to
be buried in a Catholic cemetery. Other
Christian and non-Christian religions and ethnic tribes have also viewed the
commission of suicide as a selfish act that directly insults and upsets the
“natural order” of life on Earth. While
it is likely that our most distant genetic forbearers did not have high rates
of suicide, the practice in the developed world increases annually. The United States ranks in the top five nations
in per capita incidences of suicides.
Every day in America an
average of 110 people will commit suicide 22 of whom are veterans.Think about
that for a minute. Over 25% of the people
who commit suicide on a daily basis are military veterans. Suicide is represented across all demographic
borders but the alarming rate of suicide among our young military veterans is a
profound and piercing cry for help. This
particular community of young men and women who have sacrificed and seen so
much, who have experienced the horrors of combat in all its bloody, gory, harsh
reality are being failed by their government in a truly criminal sense.
MILITARY SUICIDE LINKS
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