Stopping Suicides: Testimony before Congress

In the same hearing in which Mike and Kim Bowman gave testimony before the Congressional Committee for Veteran Affairs (see previous entry), Ilona Meagher, author of Moving a Nation to Care: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder & America's Returning, also testified. As part of her testimony, Ms. Meagher, in the spirit of practical problem solving, offered the following suggestions for easing the rapidly increasing veteran suicide problem:

Testimony from Ilona Meagher
Author of Moving a Nation to Care:
PTSD & America’s Returning

From testimony before Congress December 12, 2007

Suggestions to ease the veteran suicide problem:

* Offer all returning veterans immediate compensation and treatment support the first six months after their return home. Fostering positive coping skills (vs. negative coping skills of self-medication or domestic violence) must be a key goal of our veterans’ reintegration programs; veterans forced to wait at least six months for VA compensation and treatment benefits to kick in do not feel supported, they feel under siege.

* Increase 21st century asymmetrical warfare and psychological injury understanding and preparation. The DOD should continue to make adjustments in its training to give service members the tools they need to counter the modern battlefield’s unique stressors.The Psychological Kevlar Act of 2007 would push the DoD to provide proactive psychological training for veterans from boot camp onward; more need to sign on to this legislation and it should be passed into law.

* Force the DOD and VA do a better job of communicating with veterans on their rights and resources, and making outside community-based resources known to them as well. Many vets are unsure of what benefits they have earned and what rights they have to them. Some are discouraged from using them. Many community programs and groups are ready and waiting to assist returning veterans and military families, but are unknown to the very people who might benefit from them. While Secretary Robert Gates has said it may take up to three years to fully implement the PTSD portion of the Dole-Shalala recommendations, why are we not utilizing the resources that are available in communities across the country?

* Properly and fully fund the Veterans Administration. Billions in underfunding translates to long waiting lines, lack of funds for PTSD research, and not enough PTSD specialists at each VA facility.

* Reduce tour lengths, decrease overall number of combat deployments, and increase dwell time between deployments by funding an increase in forces. With each successive deployment, troops’ susceptibility to PTSD increases. Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr. testified last month before the Senate Armed Services Committee saying that the military must be grown in order for dwell-time to be increased, etc.

* Restrict the ability to redeploy troops diagnosed with PTSD. No PTSD-diagnosed troops should be redeployed into a combat zone, and troops should not be deployed taking psychotropic drugs such as Paxil or Zoloft, that have been shown by the FDA to increase suicide risk.

* Improve post-deployment assessments. Move away from relying on questionnaires and make physicals and one-on-one demob consultations mandatory. In February 2006, the VA contracted the Institute of Medicine to do a thorough review of scientific and medical literature related to the diagnosis and assessment of PTSD; the committee strongly concluded that the best way to determine whether a person is suffering from PTSD is with a “thorough, face-to-face interview by a health professional trained in diagnosing psychiatric disorders.” The DoD should follow the same rule.

* Invest more in counseling and support. Rather than relying on quick-fix medications to solve returning psychological problems, invest time and resources in holistic wellness programs to help veterans and their families recover from the experience of war.

* Remove stigma/punishment for those seeking help. One of the easiest ways to do this would be to operate under the assumption that everyone will need some form of support following combat. Move away from a system where those struggling most must somehow find the strength to conspicuously come forward on their own.

* Require completion of a ‘boot camp in reverse’ transitional training program. Military families who have lost loved ones to suicide consistently say there should be a more formal reentry program following return from combat, weekly meetings/classes lasting from 2 to 3 months. The program should be as required to attend and complete by all service members as boot camp.

* Pay special attention in supporting National Guard and Reserve forces. Not being a part of a cohesive unit, they are especially susceptible to PTSD.

* Stop closing VA Hospitals and Vet Centers. We should be providing more opportunities for veterans scattered across the country, especially in rural areas, to have access to health care benefits.

* Increase funding to community service boards. Many troops – especially those with the National Guard and Reserve or in rural areas – do not have easy access to health services. Make sure they have alternatives to getting the care they need, or fully reimburse their private health care bills.

* Increase Vet Center program offerings. Offer more complimentary group and individual classes for troops and military families that explain what PTSD is, how it can be treated and how one can forge the tools necessary to move their lives beyond it.

* Provide complimentary counseling to all immediate family members. If the service member refuses to seek help, the spouse and children should have access to counseling service to help them through their loved one’s reintegration process.

* Increase personal data security and treatment anonymity. Many will not come forward to get the help they need because they worry it may come back to haunt them when they’re up for a promotion, being considered for a mission, or when looking for civilian employment. Family members, however, should not be kept in the dark, especially if veteran is prescribed psychotropic medication.

To read more of Ms. Meagher's insightful testimony:
http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=11022