Took a Day Off, But I’m Back and Pissed Off
The suicide rate among U.S. Army soldiers is at a three-decade high. It could be an all-time high, but stats have only been kept since 1980. The majority of the men and women don’t commit suicide while deployed, but after they come home. A spokesman quoted on NPR said the suicides were primarily the result of failed relationships post-deployment. I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous and ill-informed. By saying something so utterly banal and simplistic, it shields the public from stories of neglect by the V.A. There is an abhorrent inability to appropriately address PTSD in returning soldiers, whether their relationships — if they have them — remain intact or no.
Each suicide has its own contours. From CNN.com:
Suicides for Marines were also up in 2008 …
The numbers did not surprise Kevin Lucey, whose 23-year-old son, Jeffrey M. Lucey — a former Marine — hanged himself on June 22, 2004 — 11 months after returning from Iraq.
The night before, “Jeffrey asked if he could sit in my lap and if we could rock,” Lucey said. “It was about 11:30 at night. And I rocked him for about 45 minutes. Now here you have a 23-year-old, 150-pound Marine that I’m just rocking and his therapist said it was his last gasp. It was his last place for refuge, and then the next time I held him in my lap was when I was taking him down from the rafters. He had put the hose around his neck double-looped and he was dead.”
Lucey maintains his son tried to get help from the VA, but was unable to.
More on the subject from MSNBC:
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liz | 11:17 AM | military
i was dating a guy for a while that was in iraq and came back with ptsd. he also told me of a man he was deployed with that shot himself in the head after finding out his wife back home was cheating on him. these men (and women) are so messed up because of what bush has gotten us into & now it’s up to obama to make sure they receive proper care upon their return. let’s hope it’s sooner than later.
I don’t know about other treatments for PTSD, but taking MDMA (ecstasy) before a session with a therapist has some pretty amazing anecdotal reports of how well it works. Before it was banned in the 80s, a number of therapists used it in their practices.
Studies on this are underway right now, but we shouldn’t wait if soldiers’ suicide rate is at its highest recorded level ever, especially since using MDMA in a controlled setting has relatively little risk. The small studies that have been carried out have showed amazing success with it; there’s more info here.
I realize the bigger problem is that people aren’t even getting therapy or any help, but I just wanted to add what I knew.
I can’t believe how naive/irresponsible you are in dismissing the impact of these soldiers’ relationships in order “expose” a “cover-up” that would have partisan implications. The real problem here is your refusal to criticize betrayal or bemoan disenchantment when these come packaged in a sexual wrapper. I am currently working with a man who came back from Afghanistan and has been suffering depression. His wife expects the same man who left to come home and step back into the exact same routines. Refusing to acknowledge the problems she or other spouses create (for whatever reasons–see Erin’s comments above) in order to blame “the war” is very poor.
I wasn’t saying failing relationships aren’t part of the bigger picture, but perhaps I made it sound that way. What I’m trying to point out is that the Army would prefer to have the public believe it’s broken relationships rather than PTSD, but that’s too simplistic. Many people suffer changes in their relationships; it’s not plausible as the primary cause or trigger for suicide in a mass group of people who all share the same history: combat. Does that make any sense? I meant no disrespect nor do I mean to dismiss anyone’s pain.
My cousin committed suicide after he returned from Iraq. I completely identify with you. The consensus in our family was that his wife was to blame. After all, she was “doped up on drugs” when the police arrived. His wife was also a soldier in Iraq.
I found out later that he received no treatment from VA, and that following his return, the military employed him to take part in military funerals.
For me, processing family members’ reactions was really hard. I was repeatedly told “there was nothing anyone could do. He could have phoned any family member, but he didn’t.”
I feel like we (our family & community) and the military let him down because of denial of PTSD. Denial & ignorance of mental illness is so prevalent — particularly concerning suicide. You say you’re reluctant to write about suicide, but this needs to be talked about more, not less.
I have Bipolar Disorder & a lot of people don’t grasp that. Fine. But when you go to war?!! It stands to reason that war will make you ill. Instead of saying “committed suicide” we should say “DIED OF MENTAL ILLNESS”.
I liked the sergeant in the clip who talked about the soldier fighting “another battle”, and “died by suicide”. Good for you Liz for raising awareness — it’s cuz of you, and lots of others in America who are demanding better treatment from VA that we’re seeing shifting attitudes
Sickening – here from the Boston Globe is the VA’s reasoning which precluded Jeff Lucey from receiving its help:
Jeff was told, his family says, that the VA couldn’t treat the PTSD until he quit drinking, in contrast to what they have since learned from the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder website (www.ncptsd.org), which recommends treating PTSD and alcohol abuse simultaneously. VA officials won’t comment on Jeff’s case, but Dr. Gonzalo Vera, a psychiatrist at the Northampton hospital, says most medications used to treat PTSD don’t mix with alcohol. ”PTSD,” he says, ”is not something you can really treat with somebody who’s drinking, because it takes a lot of insight.”
He did exactly what persons in emotional distress are supposed to do – He reached out yet he was refused help. Sickening.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/mental/articles/2005/03/01/jeff_lucey_returned_from_iraq_a_changed_man_then_he_killed_himself/?page=1
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