DoD report: Many troops who commit suicide have seen doctor

Nearly two-thirds of active-duty troops who died by suicide in 2012 were seen by a doctor within three months before taking their own lives, and one-third told someone of their plans, according to a Defense Department report released Friday.

Forty-two percent had at least one mental health diagnosis, and one in five were prescribed a psychiatric medication sometime in the 90 days before they died, according to the 2012 DoD Suicide Event Report.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20140425/NEWS/304250048/DoD-report-Many-troops-who-commit-suicide-seen-doctor?org=403&lvl=100&ite=9209&lea=964&ctr=0&par=1

Suicide in the military: Army-NIH funded study points to risk and protective factors

"These studies provide knowledge on suicide risk and potentially protective factors in a military population that can also help us better understand how to prevent suicide in the public at large"” said National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Although historically, the suicide death rates in the U.S. Army have been below the civilian rate, the suicide rate in the U.S. Army began climbing in the early 2000s, and by 2008, it exceeded the demographically matched civilian rate (20.2 suicide deaths per 100,000 vs. 19.2). Concerns about this increase led to a partnership between the Army and the NIMH to identify risks.

Continue Learning:  http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2014/nimh-03.htm

VA Concedes Whistleblower's Allegations Were True, Including That It Ignored Veterans' Suicidal Tendencies

A government whistleblower who suffered retaliation from his agency has been vindicated by a Department of Veterans Affairs admission that it failed to reach out to 2,000 veterans in a research study who said they had suicidal ideas, many of whom later committed suicide.

The agency's admission, which has not been previously publicized, resulted from a congressional inquiry into the allegations of Dr. Steven Coughlin, a former epidemiologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Health, who disclosed that the VA was guilty of shocking ethical lapses.

Continue Learning:  http://www.ibtimes.com/va-concedes-whistleblowers-allegations-were-true-including-it-ignored-veterans-suicidal-tendencies

Vietnam veteran still fighting, this time for VA's PTSD support group

Alexander Nogales still fights the Vietnam War, not with his Marine buddies along the border with Laos but in Southern Nevada where he’s battling the Department of Veterans Affairs over its plan to cancel his support group for post-traumatic stress disorder.

"They said it’s good for us to have change now and to try to make it to the Vet to Vet programs. So in other words, they’re washing their hands of us"” Nogales said.

But Nogales, who is 100 percent disabled from PTSD and maladies from Agent Orange defoliants that were sprayed in Vietnam, said he prefers the traditional support groups that he’s been involved with since 2008. He said the one-hour sessions held every other week for 15 to 20 Vietnam veterans have helped them cope with the invisible wounds of war such as nightmares and flashbacks of their combat experiences. Many of them can’t hold jobs, he said.

Continue Learning:   http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada-and-west/vietnam-veteran-still-fighting-time-vas-ptsd-support-group