Army Suicides, "Things are getting better." Huh?

This was caught a short while ago:

Number of Army Suicides Expected to Top Last Year's Number

The U.S. Army says it expects the number of suicides among active duty soldiers to top last year's numbers, although it says progress is being made in addressing the issue...>>>>

Army thinking seems to not have changed after the previous CiC leadership and all that entailed as to failed leadership, extremely failed policies and total incompetence. More suicides is making progress, Right!

Which leads into this found at Veterans Today

Bush VA Appointees:'Believe in God, You Won't Have PTSD'

God, the Army, and PTSD
Is religion an obstacle to treatment?

by Tara McKelvey

When Roger Benimoff arrived at the psychiatric building of the Coatesville, Pennsylvania veterans’ hospital, he was greeted by a message carved into a nearby tree stump: “Welcome Home.” It was a reminder that things had not turned out as he had expected.

In Faith Under Fire: An Army Chaplain's Memoir, a memoir about Benimoff’s life as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Benimoff and co-author Eve Conant describe his return from Iraq to his family in Colorado and subsequent assignment to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He retreated deep into himself, spending hours on the computer and racking up ten thousand dollars in debt on eBay. Above all, he was angry and jittery, scared even of his young sons, and barely able to make it through the day. He was eventually admitted to Coatesville’s “Psych Ward.” For a while the lock-down facility was his home. He wondered where God was in all of this, and was not alone in that bewilderment and pain.

Snip

During the Iraq war, however, the great difficulty veterans experienced in getting psychiatric care—greater than before—was not a product of cost-cutting, but of conviction: many Bush administration officials believed that soldiers who supported the war would not face psychological problems, and if they did, they would find comfort in faith. In a resigned tone, one prominent researcher who worked for the VA, and asked that he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press, explained that high-ranking officials believed that “Jesus fixes everything.” Benimoff and the others who returned with devastating psychological injuries found a faith-based bureau within the VA. At veterans’ hospitals, chaplains were conducting spirituality assessments of patients.

Snip

Things had already begun to change dramatically at the VA by early 2005, shortly after Roger Benimoff left for his second deployment to Iraq. Many appointees at the agency were disturbed that so many Iraq veterans showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In part the concern grew from skepticism about the diagnosis itself, which some believed to be a legacy of the Vietnam-era anti-war movement....>>>>>

That ones a long read but worth it.

How wide spread was this? And if well embedded at the time in the VA Health Care System was it done at Walter Reed, a Military Care Facility as well? Now this might be an issue to keep in mind as to the extremely tragic killings of the soldiers at Ft Hood by a soldier who was a Major and a mental health care psychiatrist in the military at Walter Reed and then Fort Hood but wasn't of the christian faith!

Army: 24 Suspected Suicides in January '09

This is just being reported,

Army reports alarming rise in suicides last month

There has been a small sprinkling of reports about the Military Suicides in the last couple of months, most of those found only if one is hitting a number of news outlets but not making National News, even as those who serve do so for the Country not a Community located near a base or where their from.

The Army is investigating a stunning number of suicides in January — a count that could surpass all combat deaths on America's two warfronts last month.

According to figures obtained by The Associated Press, there were 24 suspected suicides in January, compared to only four in January of 2008, six in January of 2007 and 10 in January of 2006.

Questions, once again, and I say that as a 'Nam Veteran, we who've watched this all before, have been rising as to why the numbers are going up and the causes. As it says above we have Two Theaters of occupations ongoing, with multiple tours by many in both theaters, add now the collapsing economy, the still lacking help for trauma brought back from service in these theaters and stress of being away from family and home on extended tours over and over, the strains on marriages and the family as a whole, misuse of addictive substances to deal, and other factors I'm sure.

"The trend and trajectory seen in January further heightens the seriousness and urgency that all of us must have in preventing suicides," Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, said of the new monthly number Thursday.

The 24 suspected January suicides include seven confirmed and 17 still being investigated. Usually the vast majority of suspected suicides are eventually confirmed, and if that holds true it would mean that self-inflicted deaths surpassed the 16 combat deaths reported in all branches of the armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations considered part of the global war on terror last month.

Most of the reports one might catch rarely give a reason or cause, just that a soldier, or veteran, especially a young recent vet, has been found dead, rarely giving a followup or unless local to the original the followup is not seen.

The Military is Broken, that's not to say those serving are not doing so Honorably, but once again, because of Wars and Occupations of Choice, the systems surrounding those serving are stretched past the breaking point and only little relief is forth coming quickly!

These problems were forecast by many of us that they would occur, no one listened, no one took the lead in even bringing them up as the beating of the war drums grew and grew and we're now six and seven years still occupying.

Army official: Suicides in January 'terrifying'

Army Releases January Suicide Data; Re-emphasizes Efforts

Army sees significant rise in January suicides

Soldier suicides up for 4th consecutive year

Army suicide prevention

A Few Earlier Reports on Shinseki from today

Shinseki pledges top-down review, change

"I intend to ... demand the highest levels of integrity, transparency and performance in leading the department through the fundamental and comprehensive change it must quickly undergo," Shinseki said. "There's a long tradition of VA providing leadership in medicine, of setting standards in many fields. Where we lead, we must continue. Where we do not, we must regain that leadership."

Paperwork among VA chief's priorities

The newly appointed head of the Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday the department needs a fundamental change in how it handles its paperwork.

Eric Shinseki described a Sisyphean task for caseworkers trying to plow through the backlog of files to make decisions on veterans' claims.

Members of the committee peppered Shinseki with questions about the VA's handling of mental health issues. The secretary said that much progress has been made in understanding traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) since he served in Vietnam, but there is plenty more to do.

"I am now watching all of our efforts to understand PTSD, TBI, substance abuse amongst our veterans and have a better appreciation of what we put my comrades through when we came back" from Vietnam, he said. "None of these programs were available, in fact. None of these terms were in vogue then. We still don't understand enough. We are still learning."

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Bob Filner, D-California, expressed frustration that screenings for the disorders were done through a self-evaluation, rather than through medical examination, and he implored Shinseki to change that.

ABC News End of Last Month Report

Military Suicides at a 30-Year High


Suicide Rate Reflects Toll of Army Life

With Suicides at a 30-Year High, Army Vows to Address Problem

In 2008 alone, the Army reports there were at least 128 confirmed cases of suicide, more than a dozen of which are still under review.

U.S. Army Suicides Highest In 3 Decades

 

And this is just reports on the Army, nothing yet on any possible Marine numbers.

Bring Them Home, And Take Care Of Them When They Return, Full Care!!