VA & Suicide Prevention
time matters
Veteran substance abuse and suicide prevention continues to be a topic of concern for those who served, especially in the wars of the last two decades.
Concerns about the level of care the Department of Veterans Affairs is long standing and not surprising due to all the expected problems you have with large, bureaucratic, government departments.
Gaps in care and waiting lists are one thing - but not all the problems vets face can survive a waiting list - especially those who are thinking about suicide.
If you have someone in your life who has suffered from deep depression or thoughts of suicide, then you know how time critical things can be for them to get help and recover before they take actions that they cannot return from.
Minutes matter. For some, they will only open a window for help for a brief time before it closes again.
30 days. Should a veteran who needs help working through suicidal thoughts have to wait 30 days?
In the below video from yesterday’s hearing on "Combatting a Crisis: Providing Veterans Access to Life-saving Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment" in the Subcommittee on Health Oversight, I’d recommend you go to the 1:20 mark where the conversation starts between Representative Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) and friend to the blog and all around mensch Tom Sauer.
This isn’t about bashing the VA, but looking at ways the VA can bring in other organizations and service providers - and change expectations - to better address a problem that no one thinks is getting the attention it needs.
Listen to the end as the comments by Representative Mariannette Jane Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) are also well worth listening to.
Miller-Meeks commentary about how one treats “red eye” vs how we react to suicidal thoughts brings the issue to the front.
30 days to get help? Should be 30 hours.
After 26 years of service, my discharge physical after Desert Storm was done aboard a Destroyer Tender in Marseilles, France. My actual date of retirement was 3 weeks hence on the day of arrival stateside in Mayport. The doc said they could certify no VA disabilities, that I'd have to do it stateside at a Naval Hospital. All I wanted was OUT. Got 0% VA disabilities. No regrets. Three months after I retired, I got a letter from .gov telling me (essentially) that the "free healthcare for life" I had been promised over 26 years would now cost me a deduction from my retired pay. To me, the tone and tenor of that letter was "join this new HMO & pay up" or "go eff yourself". I joined. I paid. I was angry.
Some points. Many vets have valid needs. More than a few have bogus claims. (I know a Vietnam War draftee who is still getting a $50 check every month for jock itch.) Illegal aliens are getting Medicaid, so I hear. Many able-bodied people can get a Social Security disability retirement if they are persistent and hire a lawyer. Anyone can walk in to an ER and get treatment, sue if denied, or stiff the hospital when billed for care. Most of the good people I know have earned their healthcare through their job. But there are so many entitled parasites feeding at the trough. I do not count vets among them. My takeaway is that .gov simply doesn't care. It's root hog or die for the productive and freebies to the parasites who'll reliably vote to sustain the progressive kleptocrats. We are near or past the 51% tipping point. I don't see .gov rewarding vets or anyone else possessed of similar values with anything. Which is not to say we should give up. Geez, this is an emotional issue and depressing.
Final thought. What causes depression? Does a chemical imbalance in the brain cause depression? Does depression cause a chemical imbalance in the brain? Can medication help? Counseling? Is depression cyclic, just a part of life, afflicting people in different degrees? Is it genetic? Is one's PTSD caused by TBI or accumulated stress? We just went through a 20-year war with men doing back to back deployments. Their tribulations make my own seem very small. God bless those folks. We rehab our ships when they return, but our people? I do not think there is any settled science about depression. Psychology is not a real science IMO. A person in a low spot needs a good attentive friend, foremost. We can do that for one another.
Actually having seen the way the VA operates I'd say NO, the suicide thinking person needs to see an outside doctor, The VA is woefully inadequate to even X-Ray and busted toe, with my X-Ray being put on hold due to a broken X-Ray machine, every 30 days per instruction I called and the machine was still Broken, 90 days later I went to an outside doctor. Then there is audiology, a broken hearing aid sent me to call Audio for help, eight calls long waits just to have the phone hung up.
I had to go to a Vets advocate to even get started and here I sit three months later without my left hearing aid. Calling to even make an appointment results in a long time ringing just to have the phone hung up, My family listened to this Charade on speaker phone during a two hour ordeal.
The VA cannot or will not handle Suicides.
Sorry, but all I use them for is Service connected services.