Tag: Suicides

Suicides

Closing Thought–24Jun19

I have been watching the rate of suicides among our veterans and farmers as well….It is troubling at the rate these groups are killing themselves…..I wrote recently about military suicides……https://lobotero.com/2015/04/02/military-suicides-arent-linked-to-deployment-study-finds/

More articles:

https://lobotero.com/2019/03/06/to-help-our-veterans/

https://lobotero.com/2008/05/29/gi-suicides-at-record-high/

Let’s look at the suicides by active military personnel……

The suicide rate among veterans and, now, among active-duty GIs is at an historic high. The U.S. Marine Corps, for example, just turned in an all-time record in 2018 for attempted and successful suicides in a year (354 active and reserve). Marine Colonel Dom D. Ford, writing in the Marine Times, is grasping at straws to explain the rising rates, from claiming there is too little Christian religion in the ranks to the Marines not being willing to accept counsel and advice. As for the too little Christianity in the ranks, as an advisory board member of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, I know the opposite is true: there is too much Dominionist Christianity in the ranks. In fact, as soon as Colonel Ford made his comments, the phones at MRFF began ringing.

But might there be far greater reasons than these desperate efforts suggest behind such a deadly development?

GI Suicide: Maybe It’s the Job?

Once the soldier leaves the service he becomes a stat for the VA…..let’s look at those issues as well….

Veteran health care and specifically veteran mental health is a severe problem in this nation. The Department of Veterans Affairs has over 150 hospitals nationwide and over 2,000 community-based outpatient clinics.

Still, 20 veterans each day lose their lives to suicide — a number that has not changed for almost a decade.

The same number of suicides occur each day despite billions of dollars being funded to the VA through Congress to hire mental health clinicians, develop and implement programs and services, and increase awareness and provide education to veterans.

https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/veteran-suicide-is-not-just-military-issue-1.585829

This one issue is so sad for it is the easiest to help…..the VA needs to be more in-tuned to the needs to vets and stop playing politics with the rest of the toads in DC.

Our veterans deserve the best care money can buy….not bargain basement pseudo-science that the deficit hawks would have them treated with……we need to do better…..much better.

Now the hardest hit group by suicide is Trump supporters……

In 2017, 47,173 Americans killed themselves. In that single year, in other words, the suicide count was nearly seven times greater than the number of American soldiers killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars between 2001 and 2018.

A suicide occurs in the United States roughly once every 12 minutes. What’s more, after decades of decline, the rate of self-inflicted deaths per 100,000 people annually — the suicide rate — has been increasing sharply since the late 1990s. Suicides now claim two-and-a-half times as many lives in this country as do homicides, even though the murder rate gets so much more attention.

A Deadly Epidemic Is Hitting Trump Supporters the Hardest

Then there is the info about Native American women…

Suicide rates for Native Americans have been rising faster than any other group, a new CDC analysis says: 139% for women and 71% for men since 1999. Experts say poverty, substance abuse, unemployment, and lack of access to mental health care are all contributing factors, USA Today reports. For the US overall, suicide is up 33% in the same period. A 2018 report from the CDC listed the suicide rate non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Natives was more than 3.5 times higher than the incidence among racial and ethnic groups with the lowest rates.

Maybe now would be a good time to make mental health a priority…..and spend less time debating semantics.

Just A Thought!

Suicide…The Other “S” Word

There is never good news when I read about a suicide…this time it is an American serving in Israel…..(do not get me started on that deal….the serving not the suicide)……

A 19-year-old American woman serving as a combat soldier in the Israeli army died by suicide last week.

Michaela Levit, 19, is the third Israeli “lone soldier” to die by suicide this year. Lone soldiers are largely expatriates who serve in the Israel Defense Forces while their parents live overseas.

Levit, whose parents reside in Miami, moved to Israel in 2017 and served in a mixed-gender combat battalion.

The Israeli military and soldiers’ advocates denied reports of a “worrying trend” of rising suicide rates among the lone soldiers following two suicides and a deadly drug overdose this year. 

The report I read states that there is a rise in suicides among young girls……

Boys are still more likely to kill themselves than girls are, but a new study has found a change in the established patterns, CNN reports. Suicide rates among girls are climbing faster. An analysis of a database run by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that, starting in 2007, the suicide rate for girls age 10 to 14 rose 12.7% per year, compared with 7.1% for boys the same age. For those age 15 to 19, the rate went up 7.9% for girls and 3.5% for boys, said the study, published Friday in JAMA. Suicide is the No. 2 cause of death among those 10 to 19 years old, per the CDC, after accidents and unintentional injuries. Rates of suicide have historically been higher for boys than girls across all age groups, and that remains the case now.

And boys age 15 to 19 still kill themselves with guns much more often than girls do. But girls employ hanging and suffocation in rates nearing those of boys. “What we’re seeing is alarming,” says Donna Ruch, one of the study’s authors, per Time. “On top of the fact that females are thinking about suicide more and attempting suicide more, now they’re actually completing suicide.” The reasons aren’t clear, but the findings illustrate the need for gender-specific suicide prevention strategies, Ruch says. An accompanying editorial also questions whether the rise of social media is playing a role, reports Bloomberg.

It is sad when a young person is so desperate that they think suicide is the only answer….

I sincerely wish there was an easy answer but there is not……we need to do more with our mental health policies and maybe we could help some of these young people before it is too late…..maybe not in Israel but in this country.

To Help Our Veterans

I have been very critical of our president in the past……I will have to give him his props on one subject…..Veterans.

He has given them lots of lip service in the past but has shown little truly concern for their welfare….that is until yesterday…..

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at stemming a persistently high number of veteran suicides, urging expanded outreach by awarding grants to community programs. The order creates a Cabinet-level task force that will seek to develop a national roadmap for suicide prevention, bringing in state and local organizations to raise awareness among the high-risk group. It directs the task force led by Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to finalize a plan in 12 months, the AP reports. “Veterans suicide is a tragedy of staggering proportions,” Trump said at a signing ceremony surrounded by military families and veterans’ organizations. “Today we can help end this crisis.”

He said the problem of veteran suicide can only be solved if the entire country works together to build communities that support and protect veterans from the first moment they return to civilian life. “They courageously fulfill their duties to our nation, now we must fulfill our duties to them,” Trump said. Currently, about 20 veterans die by suicide each day, about 1.5 times higher than those who haven’t served in the military. The government says about 14 of those 20 were not under VA care, pointing to a need for improved outreach. According to the White House, the new task force will look to create a grant system similar to the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing program, which provides funding to state and local programs. The effort, which is being dubbed the PREVENTS Initiative, will also aim to better coordinate research on suicide prevention across agencies, including Veterans Affairs, Defense and Homeland Security. PREVENTS stands for “President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide.”

I hope this is a real effort to help and not some “feel good” order.

I think we can save a bunch of money by admitting that war is the biggest contributor to the causes of vet suicides….end these worthless endless wars and the suicide rate may go down.

But DC will do what DC always does…..stretch this out for maximum cash outlay and issue a report that will not change a goddamn thing.

Death By Gun

Closing Thought–24Jan19

NO! This is not intended an anti-gun post…this is continuing with my series on suicide….I am sure that some will want to tie this into my statements from the past…but it is intended as info not oppo……

I have been watching the different suicide rates in the US from farmers to vets to military and now the youth of the nation…..

But first just a reminder of the series…….

https://lobotero.com/2014/09/03/older-vets-committing-suicide-at-alarming-rate-military-com/

https://lobotero.com/2015/04/02/military-suicides-arent-linked-to-deployment-study-finds/

https://lobotero.com/2015/04/02/veterans-suicide/

https://lobotero.com/2018/07/27/closing-thought-27jul18/

That was a quick tour of my thoughts on these suicides…..

This report on the startling amount of suicides among the nation’s young….suicide with guns involved…..

Suicide rates among U.S. children and teens have hit startling rates and a study now finds one clear predictor of youth suicide: gun ownership.

Youth suicides rates are higher in states with high gun ownership rates, a team at Boston University School of Public Health found.

“Household gun ownership was the single biggest predictor of youth suicide rate in a state,” Dr. Michael Siegel, a public health specialist at BU, told NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/state-state-study-links-gun-ownership-youth-suicide-n959946

Again mental health has been ignored for too long….time for some sort of major change in the thinking of those that make the rules.

Closing Thought–14Dec18

Today I must go to the hospital and let the doctors poke and prod….so this should be it for the day and I shall return tomorrow…..but tomorrow is my wife’s day with her cardio doctors…..so another light posting day as well.

I have written here on IST many times about the problem of suicide with our active duty service people and our Veterans…..there are many different approaches to try and curb this spiraling problem…..

The mounting toll of military suicides since 2003 — an intractable problem highlighted again Friday with a murder-suicide at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland — has surpassed the number of troops killed in Iraq.

The latest Pentagon statistics on suicides in all service branches, combined with previously-released data compiled by the San Antonio Express-News, brought the total to 4,839 for the years 2003 through 2015. In the same period, 4,496 American were lost serving in Iraq.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/amp/Suicides-in-military-since-2003-now-exceed-U-S-7237308.php

The military now has a novel approach for active duty personnel to try and head off this in advance……

The U.S. Army‘s top official said Thursday that he wants to see sergeants making regular visits to the barracks on weekends to help reduce the number of soldiers who die by suicide.

Suicide is a problem that every service struggles to prevent. In calendar year 2017, 509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide, according to Defense Department numbers. Of that number, the Army suffered 298 deaths by suicide across the active duty, National Guard and Reserve.

“It’s a tragedy that we have suicide in our ranks, but it’s coming into our ranks from society writ large,” Army Secretary Mark Esper told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute. “Every week, I am signing letters to families offering my condolences for soldiers who have taken their lives.”

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/11/08/army-wants-sergeants-barracks-weekends-prevent-suicides.html

Something needs to be done for this problem….but I think this approach is a band-aid for a sucking chest wound…..I do not think that this approach will do much to lessen the attempts of suicide to be honest…..

Anyone have anything they would like to add?

Closing Thought–27Jul18

The US has a suicide rate that is anything but envious…..our vets kill themselves….our homeless commit suicide……our bullied teens feel suicide is their only out….suicide is all too “popular” in our society……

There is a sector that is having its trouble with suicide and it is a sector that one would never consider as  problem……our farmers.

Suicide is exploding in America – and the increase isn’t confined to celebrities like Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. Suicide rates have risen by an astonishing 30% since 1999, with suicidal people citing relationship stress, financial difficulties and other issues as the underlying cause.

But suicide rates have increased for some professions more than others. According to CBS, farmers are facing the highest suicide rate of any profession in the US. The suicide rate for people in the field of farming, fishing and forestry is 84.5 per 100,000 people – more than five times that of the broader population. And with retaliatory tariffs from China and the European Union set to further undermine US crop prices, a bad situation could be about to get worse. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, making the loans on which farmers depend increasingly expensive.

http://theantimedia.com/farmers-america-killing-themselves/

Please do not think I am blaming any of this on current policies…the problem goes deeper than that…..

This is a problem that has a cure but our current system will never end the spiraling problem….plus if the tariffs do much damage the rate may even increase…

Please have a good weekend….I will see you guys tomorrow….chuq

 

Closing Thought–18Dec17

WE hear about the suicide rate among our veterans…..also we read about children committing suicide because of bullying…..it seems that suicides are becoming all too regular.

I read something that gave me something to think about….a group that we do not connect to the word suicide……farmers…..

On the day in May 2011 that Matt Peters took his own life, he spoke on the phone with Dr. Mike Rosmann. Rosmann, himself an Iowa farmer, is also a psychologist who doubles as “one of the nation’s leading farmer behavioral health experts,” writes Debbie Weingarten for the Guardian. She knows that firsthand: The former vegetable farmer, weighed down by depression, once called Rosmann herself. “We were growing food, but couldn’t afford to buy it. We worked 80 hours a week, but we couldn’t afford to see a dentist, let alone a therapist. I remember panic when a late freeze threatened our crop, the constant fights about money,” she writes. And she’s not alone. Weingarten cites CDC figures that show the industry with the highest suicide rate is agriculture.

As for possible reasons why, the CDC lists “social isolation, potential for financial losses, barriers to and unwillingness to seek mental health services (which might be limited in rural areas), and access to lethal means.” And the financial picture isn’t pretty right now, with Weingarten noting the median farm income for this year is expected to be negative $1,325. Rosmann says many farmers’ issues can be addressed in no more than five therapy sessions, something he likens to an Employee Assistance Program. Congress in 2008 voted not to fund the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, a program that would have made hotlines and counseling available to farmers. The cost would have been $18 million a year; Rosmann maintains that the price we pay annually due to suicide is much higher. Read Weingarten’s full piece here.

It is sad to read this……but keep in mind once these people are gone from agriculture then all we have is agri-business….corporate farms……the prices will be going up until the poor eat what they can grown in a pot on the window sill…..

Gotta bounce my friends…..but will return tomorrow….see you then……chuq

Closing Thought–13Sep17

Death By Suicide!

There have been many tragic stories that have come to light since we started down this road of war 16 years ago…..it is sad that so many Americans have had to die….so many have had to be repaired….and especially all those that just could not cope and took their own lives.

Below is a story by a military wife that had ro deal with the results of a husband’s suicide……

Most military families will tell you that the trajectory of their lives was drastically altered following the attacks that took place 16 years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001. It was no different for my young family. We were stationed in Enid, Okla., and my husband was a Marine Corps instructor pilot, training student pilots to fly T-37 trainer jets. We had two young boys, ages 4 and 6. Oklahoma was supposed to be our last duty station before we transitioned back to civilian life; we planned to leave the Marine Corps and move home to live near our families in Massachusetts. My husband, Maj. John Ruocco, just happened to be home that morning and we were enjoying a cup of coffee together when we noticed “breaking news” on the television. We sat in stunned silence as we watched the second plane hit the second tower. My husband took a deep breath and said, “this is going to change everything for us.” Four years later, three months after he returned from a combat tour in Iraq, my husband died by suicide.

Source: Hope, Help, Heal: Suicide Prevention and the Military | RealClearDefense

Suicide is a battle that we are not winning….all stories need to be told and heard…..maybe somewhere3 we can find a way to heal these troubled souls.

Veterans: More Sad News

One of the saddest outcomes for the service of a person to his/her country is the fact that they feel that suicide is the only way to get relief for their problems…..and sadly yet another vet has opted out by suicide….

This time it was not a lower rank soldier struggling with life outside the military but rather a 2 star general……

The Army said Friday it has determined that suicide was the cause of death of a two-star general who was found dead in his home on a military base in Alabama, the AP reports. Maj. Gen. John Rossi was found dead July 31 at Redstone Arsenal, two days before he was to assume command of Army Space and Missile Defense Command. He is the first Army general to commit suicide on active duty since record-keeping began in 2000, according to the Army; USA Today reports that he is “the highest-ranking soldier ever to have taken his own life.” Military suicides soared earlier this decade; they typically have affected lower-ranking military members. Rossi, a West Point academy graduate and an air defense artillery officer by training, had just moved onto Redstone Arsenal and was scheduled to be promoted to lieutenant general when he took command of Space and Missile Defense Command.

A written statement by the Army on Friday made no mention of what might have prompted Rossi to take his own life. He had actually spoken in March at a conference on preventing military suicides. The Rossi family issued a statement through the Army expressing thanks for wide support and urging those who may need suicide-prevention help to seek it immediately. “To the Army, he was Maj. Gen. Rossi,” it said. “To us, he was John—husband, dad.” “We ask for the time and space to grieve in private, and for the Army to continue to better understand suicide, and to help and treat those in need,” the family statement added. “To all the other families out there, to the man or woman who may be facing challenging times, please seek assistance immediately. Compassionate and confidential assistance is available.”

A problem seemingly without a solution…..sad that a veteran has to turn this form of expression…..we can do better….pout veterans deserve so much more than we give.

One More Vietnam Problem

The veterans from the Vietnam War have suffered on so many levels and most of society could care less……many suffered from PTSD….some from Agent Orange…..many fro night sweats….and from memories that will not die……but they are having to deal with one more situation……SUICIDES!

On July 7, the Veterans Health Administration released new data about veterans’ suicides, based upon examination of over 55 million veteran records from 1979 to 2014 from every state in the nation and U.S. territories. While much of the buzz around veteran suicide has focused on veterans emerging out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this new report showed that 65% of all veterans who died from suicide in 2014 were 50 years of age or older. In fact, 45% of veteran suicides in 2014 were aged 60 and older.

These are deeply disturbing statistics, especially for those of us in the Vietnam cohort. As the executive director of the Veterans Health Council at Vietnam Veterans of America, veteran suicide is one of my professional and personal interests ever since losing a team member to suicide while on a mission together in northern I Corps Vietnam.

Source: Majority Of Veteran Suicides Are 50 And Older And We Don’t Know Why

Believe me…..Vietnam vets have suffered enough…..it is time for this country to actually care about these people and give them the help they richly deserve.

In closing….the VA has its problems also….

More than 70,000 veterans disability claims are currently backlogged in Veterans Affairs processing centers, seven months after department officials missed their public goal of getting the number down to zero.

VA Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Thomas Murphy said that figure includes a substantial number of claims left open longer than four months intentionally to ensure veterans are receiving all of the payouts they deserve. But he acknowledged his agency needs to drive that number down further.

Source: VA disability backlog tops 70,000 — 7 months after it was supposed to be zero

The news seldom improves…and that is truly sad.