HUFFINGTON
09.01-08.13
INVISIBLE CASUALTIES
the military and veterans. The VA
cannot compel veterans to come in
for help — even if counselors know
where to find them.
Finding veterans and identifying struggling troops in time, and
matching them with the right
resources, is a major concern of
suicide prevention officials at the
Pentagon and the VA. The rising
suicide numbers, they acknowledge, are evidence that a greater
effort is needed.
That’s why the Pentagon’s Office
of Suicide Prevention is engaged in
a massive effort to determine exactly what programs exist, how much
is being spent on them and how
they can be more efficiently coordinated. Garrick, the office director,
said she has asked each of the military services this summer to report
how many suicide prevention programs they have, what they do and
what they cost. Answers aren’t in
yet, she said.
Many are convinced that the
answer lies in part outside the
Pentagon and VA, out in the
communities where people live.
Across the country, there are
fledgling efforts to tackle this idea
in two ways: train veteran volun-
“If a soldier has a mental
health issue and fellow
soldiers learn about
it, then confidence is
broken and military
careers unquestionably
are harmed.”
teers to act as peer counselors to
troops and other veterans in need,
and more closely coordinate with
community-based health care providers, including nonprofits.
‘SOMEONE THAT CARES’
At the Philadelphia VA Medical
Center, the concept of reaching
those at risk of suicide — before
they are in crisis — is driving the
suicide prevention effort beyond
the traditional counseling and therapy for specific mental conditions.
“To us, this is a very small piece
of the puzzle of getting better,”
said Dr. David W. Oslin, a psychiatrist and chief of mental health at
the Philadelphia VA. “We can provide the greatest clinical care, but
if the veteran is unemployed and
living on the street, he or she is
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