Calls To Veterans' Suicide Hot Line Double

(CBS/AP)  More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.

According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.

This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years.

Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department, said the hot line is in place to help prevent deaths such as Dwyer's. "We just want them to know there's other options and people do care about them, and we can help them make a difference in their lives," she said in an interview.

The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for processing applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. The department has spent $2.9 million on the hot line thus far.

The hot line receives up to 250 calls per day - double the average number calling when it began. Kemp said callers are divided evenly between veterans from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars. Richard McKeon, public health adviser for SAMHSA, said 10 to 20 of the 1,575 calls received each week have to be rerouted to high-volume backup call centers throughout the country.

The VA estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year.

This month, the hot line began an advertising campaign in Washington area subway stations and buses featuring the slogan, "It takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help."

The veterans hot line, which is linked to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, received 55,000 callers in its first year, including both veterans and people who are concerned about them, according to figures being released Monday. One-third of the 40 specially trained counselors are veterans themselves.

"We try to get them (callers) to talk about their situation and what they remember and see if they can identify exactly what their issues are. I think there's a comfort in knowing that they can get some help from people who do understand what combat stress is like," Kemp said.

From the call center, counselors instantly can check a veteran's medical records and then connect the caller to local VA suicide prevention coordinators for follow-up, monitoring and care at local VA medical centers. Kemp said that since the hot line started, 106 veterans have been steered to free medical care from the VA.

Kemp said the hot line was put in place specifically for those veterans who don't get enough help until it's too late. "They have indicated to us that they are in extreme danger, either they have guns in their hand or they're standing on a bridge, or they've already swallowed pills," she said. Kemp said 1,221 veterans who were in such situations were rescued during the hot line's first year.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, an increasing number of troops have been turning to medication to deal with the stress of battle. Each year, between 20 and 40 soldiers are evacuated from war zones for mental problems brought on by combat, reported CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin, and many more stay in the battle with the help of medication.

A recent survey found 12 percent of soldiers in Iraq reported taking either anti-depressants or sleeping pills. That works out to about 19,000 soldiers, half of them using anti-depressants.

The VA is preparing for the eventual return of a large number of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. This could put added stress on the mental health screening program for returning veterans, which could lead to a rise in undiagnosed mental health issues. The VA recently got enough money to double its suicide prevention staff and is planning to hire 212 more people soon.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling 800-273-TALK (8255); veterans should press "1" after being connected.

[kwcaresaventura]

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[smirk5]

McCain''s plan to make sure that oil companies pass along any savings from his gas tax gimmick?

MCCAIN: We would make them shamed into it. We, of course, know how to -- American public opinion. And we would penalize them, if necessary. But they wouldn''t. They would pass it on.

Funny man.

[smirk5]

MCCAIN: Yes. And there''s no economist in the country that knows very well the low-income American who drives the furthest, in the oldest automobile, that sometimes can''t even afford to go to work.

Wow, McCain is way out of touch. I knew an economist professor who grew up in a poor area in West Virginia. His family was still living there. So, there''s one. I bet there are thousands of economists that know plenty of poor people. I bet McCain doesn''t know any poor people. What an elitist. And, he thinks Americans are stupid if he can make a silly statement like that.

[smirk5]

Hey Limbots! Simple question. Why didn''t McCain visit the troops in Landstuhl, Germany earlier in March? He was not on a campaign trip and Paris is closer to Landstuhl than Berlin is. Why didn''t he take the time to visit Landstuhl this last time?

[h5mind]

Having spoken directly to several Iraqi vets, I can guess that part of the increase in suicide rates may have to do with the fact that soon after arriving in country, troops learn their mission has nothing to do with democracy, saving Iraqis, or protecting our freedom. Rather, it''s a business venture on a scale rarely seen in history. Such knowledge, coupled with the incredbile exhaustion from living on two hours of sleep a night for months on end, would be enough to drive most to desperation. Unfortunately, there is also the real possibility that some of the so-called suicides may have been carried out to silence anyone brave enough to reveal this quagmire for what it really is-- a speculative land grab, nothing more.

[tootall10142]

When you get in line raise your hand take the oath cash the checksyour ash belongs to them the armed forces is not a factory job nor is regulated by the united auto jerkers of america.

[bsimon2007]

Sad, just very sad.

Said before, but it bears repeating:

http://shareddarkness.com/2007/11/10/iraqs-human-cost.aspx

[mcvet]

So what''''s your point?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by bhoogren at 11:38 PM : May 29, 2008
+ report abuse

The POINT is that ONE Incompetent LOSER named George Bush can cause ALL of us some real problems. Sieg Heil Bush

[drinuk]

Whatever the reasons these people have for taking their own lives is immaterial, the tragedy is that they are doing so. It is a bad as executing those suffering Shell Shock who deserted during the First World War, there was no sympathy and care then and there is very little now. Indeed, it is worse now, we have learned absolutely nothing during the intervening years. We sit back and allow the people WE employ to lie, committing our Sons and Daughters to the horrors of War and in over four thousand cases, their death. We allow our Employee''s in Government to steal our children from us and take personal profit from doing so, a profit they designed in deceiving a deluded population.

Like in 1914-1918, there will be no inquest and those responsible will answer to no one, they will enjoy the spoils of war whilst the emotional and financial victims will suffer untold misery for the rest of their lives.

If we are to continue existing on this earth, this new century must surely find a new and honest way of living and those offending the people must be banished by whatever means. The penalty must now fit their crimes.

[bobnjersey]

[So what''''s your point? ]
[Posted by bhoogren at 11:38 PM : May 29, 2008]

ahhh ... everyone has a different perspective on this war ... those who intiated see it one way ... those fighting/dying see it another way ... those being fought against yet another way ... then there are those caught in the middle ... those that make money from it ... those that will use it to validate their claim ... etc, etc, etc.

a war for everyone ... everyone for war.

do you still not see the point?