When I was asked to write about the suicide issue concerning solders coming home from Iraq, I was stunned.  “What suicide issues, I asked myself?”  You never hear about suicide issues concerning the Iraq soldier coming home in the newspapers or on the News. 

 

Nevertheless, too much of my surprise I found out that the Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to cope with a assignment that they were unprepared to handle: the care of soldiers who left Iraq with an affliction of brain injury and emotional problems they developed while at war fighting for our countries. Majorities of the soldiers were unprepared and they do not know how to deal with the after trauma of the war.  However, for whatever reason the Department of Veterans Affairs is trying to keep it hush, hush. 

 

There suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans they see in their medical facilities.   They cannot keep it quiet the word needs to get out into the media, so these men and women can get the help the need before the try to end their life with the attempts of suicide.

 

I would like to know if 1,000 suicide attempts per month are among the veterans they see in their medical facilities how many are occuring outside the facility that we don’t know about?  That is a scary thought.  Right?

 

They kept this information hushed-up from the public.  They also said that there had been 790 suicide attempts in all of 2007, and they denied there was a suicide epidemic.   Many believe that the number of attempts is much higher, but they do not want the public to know the true numbers involved because of the ruckus it may cause. 

 

There is no reason to deny it.  You cannot make a wish and think that the problem will go away.  Many of the current suicide figures include a large proportion of aging and veterans in poor health.

 

A study by the Rand Corporation last month found that nearly one in five service members returning from Iraq or about 300,000 have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. About 19 percent reported having a possible traumatic brain injury from these bomb-afflicted wars.

 

Frighteningly, only half have sought treatment, the study found, and they have encountered severe delays and shortfalls in getting care. Many organizations have filed lawsuits against these medical facilities and they were forced to improve treatment for our soldiers.

 

Fortunately, the solutions are clear: more money for mental health services, closer tracking of suicides and more aggressive preventive programs have been developed to help suicide victims.  They also developed more help for their families. If this country gave back to wounded troops even a fraction of the commitment and service that it has received from them, then the soldiers would have the care they need and deserve.  We should not neglect the men and women who risk their life for this country, so we have a better and safer place to live.