Tag / America

by Frank Maduri

Twenty Two Tragedies A Day: The Veteran Suicide Rate Spike In America

The effects of warfare have always been devastating to our society and our shared global community. In the United States, the focus on such factors as PTSD began largely following the most recent wars waged in Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11th terror attacks.

The men and women who bravely served our country and survived returned home after their service in combat with battle scars of another kind: mental, emotional, and psychological. The prevalence toward violent outbursts and wildly irrational behavior was seen more with these service veterans than others, though the Vietnam-era veterans had demonstrated some symptoms that, at the time, went largely unrecognized.

The media began to focus on the amount of suicides being committed by veterans and speculating about particular potential connections. This past week, USA Today and Military Times released a comprehensive study regarding this disturbing trend.

The first finding of the report suggests that the rallying cry from veterans’ advocacy groups may be inaccurate. Those groups would demonstrate and centered their key message around “twenty two per day”, which is in reference to the suicide rate of veterans in the United States.

However the data from this study seems to indicate that the number of veteran suicides is twenty per day. The number is still a huge problem and a heartbreaking statistic, but some other reports still have the number at twenty two, so the consensus remains that there is a problem and it has to be addressed.

There have been 7,400 veteran suicides, which is 18% of the total number of suicides in the U.S. in a given year. The astounding part of that statistic is that veterans constitute less than 9% of the U.S. population. The federal government was quick to point out that 70% of the veterans who tragically took their own lives did not regularly utilize VA services.

The suicide rate in female veterans rose the most precipitously with an 85% increase over the past 13 years. The rationale behind that increase is not a situation that can be easily determined or tracked. It certainly does not fit the general stereotype of veteran suicide, so much of the mainstream media reporting is on male veteran suicide.

Another troubling statistic is that 65% of the veterans that have taken their own lives are 50 years old and older, and have spent no time fighting in the most recent wars against the terrorist groups organizing in the Middle East.

In response to this terrible situation, which is of growing concern, the VA hired over 5,300 new staff in mental health support type jobs. The more challenging aspect is going to be determining methods to get the veterans to use the services offered and to stay consistently compliant and accountable with those mental health services.

Furthermore, there are so many other organizations in the non-profit arena working and dedicated to solving the tragic prevalence of suicide within the veteran community; that those involved in it feel that needs to change as well. In essence, without one single authoritative group to lead this effort, it will be too scattered to achieve any type of traction.

There are several proposals regarding how this single entity authority would work, and this type of structure has become necessary with other large social justice causes in the past, so the interest groups involved with veterans’ issues will approach it in a similar manner.

The other response that has come out of the combination of the recent media attention and the survey data on this continued horrible trend of suicide within the veteran population is, an effort termed by the federal government as being more “aggressive” in their procedures in getting these veterans into VA offered services.

Unfortunately, there is no hard data on the root cause of the rise in the suicide rate for veterans. The suicide rate could correspond with untreated mental and emotional trauma from being in combat. It could also be in response to the changes from when a soldier has to adjust to being back in their home or in their community; and the transition to being back in that scenario after being away for several months to a few years can be overwhelming.

In addition, the rise in this rate could be tied to any number of combinations of these issues coupled with the isolation that many veterans deal with upon their return home from active duty. The study data also indicates that difficult economic times may be a contributing factor in causing that transition home to be more challenging which leads to depression and then to suicide.

A large number of the suicides take place within three years of the veteran being out of military service. It is also not completely correlated to those who served in active forward areas or combat zones. The study data shows that military service members serving in other capacities have a tendency to take their own life. In a piece done by the LA Times where they interviewed military officers about the findings, the consensus is that there is no way to understand why these terrible events take place.
In my view, the numbers of veterans that take their own life both shocked and saddened me. The importance of mental health services for these service men and women becomes absolutely critical for them to be able to survive the transition from active duty to the civilian life. The human need for connection suggests that the VA should increase their capacity for holding support groups in communities more actively to support our veterans.

Furthermore, the indication that economic conditions could be a major contributing factor to the suicide rate in veterans suggests that more effective job placement is needed. The other component to that is, in many cases, more robust job training programs to help provide new skill sets to our veterans to compete in an ever-changing job market.

The root of the issue is mental and emotional, it stems from places in the human psyche that we may never fully understand. It is a stark reminder of the true cost of war and the emotional scars it can leave on these brave men and women. It is a reminder of the “dog eat dog” world where everybody is out there with their own self-interest in mind. A soldier coming from an environment where he or she was used to having fellow soldiers to lean on, would find that transition especially isolative. That leads to a scenario where we have twenty of these tragic suicides a day.

If you are interested in finding out more about how you can help the veterans of military service to better transition into your neighborhood or your community, please contact your local VA office, your local Congressional representatives, or your local American Legion office. Those of you who are reading this and have served our country in military service of any kind, I thank you for your service. If you are reading this, and your family has suffered through the suicide of a family member, you are in my prayers.

It is time for action, it is time for us to step up and help so that our military veterans can return home to move forward into active and productive lives. Some may think this is impossible, but I believe that in America anything is possible because of the compassion of our people.

by Frank Maduri

Senseless: A Tragic Morning in Virginia

I was running on the elliptical at my gym this morning when the breaking news came across CNN about the tragic and truly senseless shooting of two journalists in Virginia on live television while they worked a routine news story. Alison Parker and Adam Ward were both in the prime of their lives and their careers. They were brutally shot to death by a former employee of the same TV network who had some sort of vendetta against both of these former colleagues.

 

The shooter eventually took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died in the hospital around 1:30 this afternoon. I still cannot believe that such a senseless crime happened today in a small, rural area outside of Roanoke. I will never understand what drives someone to commit such a horrible act of aggression against another human being.

 

I was in shock as I watched the interview at the gym with the General Manager of the television station who was explaining that the cameraman, Adam Ward, was engaged and that his fiancée is one of the producers of the morning show, so she watched these horrific events transpire live in their newsroom.

 

It was at that point that I had a feeling that this crime was perpetrated by someone with intimate knowledge of their station because no other motive really made sense. The reporter, Alison Parker, was in a serious committed relationship with another fellow employee who was a news anchor, they have been together for three years. Therefore, a jealous ex-boyfriend did not fit in this situation. The nature of the crime suggested it was someone who knew them both, I was saddened to learn later that my suspicions were correct.

 

In another unfortunate sign of the times we live in, as I was running, CNN posted another news alert that New York City and their Counterterrorism Unit had bolstered security at all New York news stations. That made sense to me especially until they determined the motive behind this attack, if it was terrorism related then New York always has to be extremely cautious with that.

 

However, it is on these days that I even more fully realize how blessed I am to be alive. I become even more grateful for all that I have been afforded in my life because it is a reminder that at any point it can be taken away.

 

The shooter mentioned the tragedies in Charleston, South Carolina and at Virginia Tech in a manifesto he sent to ABC News. He mentioned being angry but wanting to die in peace. These tragedies he mentioned and including the one in which he caused by his actions today have become unfortunately commonplace in our country.

 

The recent movie theater shootings and the announcement late last week by Regal Cinemas that they would begin a policy of checking bags and searching people for weapons have highlighted the unfortunate need for more security against gun related crime.

 

Furthermore, the series of school related violent tragedies punctuated by Columbine (which the Virginia shooter also mentioned in the document sent to ABC News) and the Sandy Hook tragedy are some of the most profoundly disturbing events we have experienced in our nation. This violence, this disrespect for life has to stop.

 

I covered a variety of aspects of the Sandy Hook school tragedy in my own work for a few different organizations. I have covered other events where I have had to interview someone or multiple people such as what Ms. Parker was doing today in a story on tourism when this horrific event transpired. I have never feared for my own safety while working a news story or an event or a fundraiser where I was representing a media outlet or submitting the story to a variety of outlets. We live in a nation where that should not be acceptable under any circumstances. These young people were just doing their jobs, something has to change, something has to be done to deal with gun related violence in America.

 

I am not sure what the solution is, and quite frankly, I do not have a solution. I just feel very strongly that human life is sacred, that all life should be protected, and that innocent people should not die at school or at work or in a public place in a civilized society. This crime today, and other attacks like it, are completely senseless and they simply must be eliminated from our national way of life. We should not, and honestly, cannot allow these sorts of tragic crimes where innocent lives are taken to continue.

 

The main issue here in this case, and with many others like it, remains that the root cause is not addressed. In many cases those who carry out these horrific acts have problems or issues that are not being addressed. An improvement in the availability of mental or psychological counseling and intervention would resolve these situations before these people are pushed to the breaking point and taking the lives of others. Something has to be done to change how we as a society deal with these issues.

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims today, to the family of the man who caused this tragedy, and to all those who knew those who died this morning in Virginia. My prayers continue that one day we will find peaceful solutions to our societal problems and that our culture will embrace the concept that all human life is valuable and should be respected. My prayers continue that other Americans agree with my sentiments and that tangible progress can be made to end this senseless violence in our country on a permanent basis.