WHAT THE ARMY HAS LEARNED ABOUT SUICIDES IN 10 YEARS

STUDY SHOWS MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT MAY CAUSE ARMY SUICIDES!

      I love Gen. Peter Chiarrelli because he is bright, dedicated and tells it like it isARMY SUICIDES JUST KEEP GOING UP!  His 15 month study shows that in 2010 more army soldiers died because of their own behavior than by the enemy. (239) He further found that with more than 110,000 current soldiers on mind altering prescription drugs
(ie anti-depressants, sleep meds, anti-anxiety drugs, anti-psychotics
and narcotics) it is difficult to tell to what degree the medications are either helping or hurting the drive to reduce suicides. 

     A lot of this is because when you mix these medications with alcohol, cocaine or other drugs they can produce really bad results. 

         One thing he didn't mention is that there is very poor continuity of care in the Army. (The system is designed to discourage it.)  I have talked to many soldiers who had either good care or really bad care but it was interrupted, limited or denied after to short a period of time. Good care for TBI, PTSD and depression

requires good people who develop a vital relationship with the patient and have plenty of time to complete it. This was hard to come by at Ft. Hood and I had to work my butt off to get it for the soldiers I saw who really needed it. 

       As far as I could tell the mental health providers in the Army who provided great care to soldiers (either on post or in private practice) were not rewarded. It's all about numbers and speed and limited visits... in other words limited $$$. The really good ones just absolutely loved soldiers with problems!  and that was returned. 

         Another thing I love about Gen. Chiarrelli is that when he commissioned this study he admitted that taking care of these issues

(Which was my job at the Ft. Hood PDHRA) had taken a back seat to deploying soldiers... at least thru half of 2008 when suicides became alarmingly high. You have to love a guy who can at least tell the truth even if he can't seem to do anything about it. 

lilGWB