VA forms panels to address suicides

[unhappycamper]

VA forms panels to address suicides
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 23, 2008 5:46:07 EDT

The Veterans Affairs Department has announced two new panels designed to address the number of suicide attempts among patients under VA care, which is running around 1,000 a month.

“There is nothing more tragic than the death by suicide of even one of the great men or women who served this nation,” said VA Secretary James Peake, repeating a statement he has made before Congress. “VA is committed to doing all we can to improve our understanding of a complicated issue that is also a national concern.”

The first, the “Blue Ribbon Work Group on Suicide Prevention in the Veterans Population,” will be made up of five government suicide experts, including:

• Cmdr. Alex Crosby, medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Army Col. Charles Hoge, director of the division of psychiatry and behavior services at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/military_vapanels_suicides_052208w/



uhc comment: Don't tarry gentlemen. 18 veterans a day off themselves.

[flashl]

1. What will the panel tell us TODAY that's different from what we already known SINCE 2003?

Army suicides hit highest level since 1993
April 21, 2006

WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. Army soldiers who took their own lives increased last year to the highest total since 1993, despite a growing effort by the Army to detect and prevent suicides.

In 2005, a total of 83 soldiers committed suicide, compared with 67 in 2004, and 60 in 2003 — the year U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq. Four other deaths in 2005 are being investigated as possible suicides but have not yet been confirmed. The totals include active duty Army soldiers and deployed National Guard and Reserve troops.

“Although we are not alarmed by the slight increase, we do take suicide prevention very seriously,” said Army spokesman Col. Joseph Curtin.

...

When suicides among soldiers in Iraq spiked in the summer of 2003, the Army put together a mental health assessment team that met with troops. Investigators found common threads in the circumstances of the soldiers who committed suicide — including personal financial problems, failed personal relationships and legal problems.

Army increase prevention efforts

Since then, the Army has increased the number of mental health professionals and placed combat stress teams with units. According to the Army, there are more than 230 mental health practitioners working in Iraq and Afghanistan, compared with “about a handful” when the war began, Curtin said.

Soldiers also get cards and booklets that outline suicide warning signs and how to get help.

msnbc