HUFFINGTON
09.01-08.13
INVISIBLE CASUALTIES
suicide prevention programs and
outreach, said they had no veteranspecific programs, did not routinely look for veterans to connect
with the VA, and really had no idea
where to send veterans in need.
“There are so many resources
and different organizations, and
one person calling one organization isn’t going to get a fraction of
all the help that’s out there,” said
Valerie Glauser, a family therapist
in suburban Philadelphia. “There
is no community clearinghouse
for all types of veteran support for
those of us who work in behavioral health.”
After hours of discussion, the
group came up with two solid plans:
spread the word about VA programs
in new ways — such as posters on
buses and job fairs — and train volunteer veterans for peer counseling.
With all these campaigns and
programs, the most effective suicide prevention tool often seems
to be an individual — a family
member or a friend — who makes
the effort to be available.
Army Sgt. Maj. Joseph Sanders, now 48, twice attempted
suicide when depression, illness
and anxiety sent him into what
seemed like a bottomless pit with
no other way out.
One time he put a bullet in his
revolver, and when he pulled the
trigger it clicked on an empty
chamber — a shock that brought
him to his senses. The second time
he ran his car engine in a closed
garage before suddenly realizing
how much he had to live for.
At 1 a.m. he banged on a friend’s
door to ask for help.
“All it takes,” he said. “You always have someone to turn to,
someone that cares.”
His friend took him that night
to a military chaplain and then to
a suicide prevention officer. “We
worked up a safety plan, and they
said, ‘You go on home now and we’ll
call in the morning to make sure
you’re okay, and we’ll call you in
the evening and continue checking
on you until everything is okay and
you’re not feeling as stressed.’”
“Well,” Sanders said.
“That was quite effective.”
HuffPost
reporter
and Pulitzer
Prize-winner
David Wood
(left) explains
the thinking
behind the
“Invisible
Casualties”
series.