HST043: A Serious Look at Suicide

Summary:

It’s impossible to talk about Veteran Mental Health without addressing the elephant in the room: veteran suicide. The crisis surrounding veteran suicide is at epic proportions, and have been for quite a while. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin, has made combating veteran suicide the top clinical priority of the organization. It’s a controversial topic; despite many different attempts at addressing the ongoing numbers of veterans taking their own lives, the numbers do not appear to be diminishing. Some veterans point to the system as the problem, others point to uncontrolled substance abuse, still others point to the focus on veteran suicide in the first place.

In this episode, Duane talks about veteran suicide, identifying the problem to be solved, a common misconception about suicide, and resources to learn more.

In This Particular Episode You Will Learn:

• The problem that we should be focused on (in Duane’s opinion)
• How suicide is an indicator of deeper concerns, and not the problem in and of itself
• Suicide as a manifestation of a veteran’s inability to manage challenges in their life
• Suicide happens on a continuum
• Resources, including blog posts with more information

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

A Collection of posts about Veteran Suicide on www.veteranmentalhealth.com

Veteran Mental Health Boot Camp

BLK006: Suicide the Hidden War and the Aftermath It Leaves

Speaking of Suicide Blog

Objective Zero App

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Do you want to check out Duane’s latest book, Combat Vet Don’t Mean Crazy? Check it out by finding it on Amazon.

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