A servicemember killed themselves every 36 hours between 2005 - 2010

[Earth_First]

A service member committed suicide every 36 hours between 2005 and 2010, says a new report by the Center for a New American Security, a national security think tank.

According to “Losing the Battle: The Challenge Of Military Suicide,” 43 percent of military members who killed themselves in 2010 did not seek any help in the months before they died. CNAS suggests the military’s persisting cultural stigma attached to mental health care is behind the soldiers’ reluctance to admit they need care.

One key form that’s supposed to identify possible problems after combat — the post-deployment health assessment, or PDHS — is often filled out hastily by service members, who are told: “If you answer yes to any of those questions, you are not going home tomorrow.”

CNAS recommends that the military’s higher-ranking members convey the importance of answering the PDHA truthfully. And while the think tank is pushing for the destigmatization of mental health issues, it recognizes that this “is unlikely to change quickly” due to a lack of leadership and the persistent view that post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury aren’t “real” injuries.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/woundedplatoon/report-military-still-losing-the-battle-against-soldier-suicide/

[teddy51]

1. Yep, and Bush, Cheney, et al are still free to walk amoung us, go figure on that huh? n/t

[cbayer]

2. Tragic beyond words. Psychiatric services for returning vets are shameful.

[catabryna]

3. Please Bring Home Our Troops...

I can't say it enough. And, when they come home, Support Them!