Fla. Guard to launch program on suicide
The aim is to provide mental health help to returning troops.
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Published February 14, 2008
In the military, telling someone they might need to see a psychiatrist is not always an easy sell.
Few admit depression because they think it's a career ender.
That's a barrier the Florida National Guard says it wants to eliminate.
On Wednesday, the Guard said it was preparing to soon launch a federally mandated suicide-prevention program to ensure the 9,000 troops it has deployed since 2003 know that seeking help isn't shameful.
The program seeks to educate leaders within the Guard - right down to the squad level - about symptoms and how to get help within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Guard intends to emphasize there is no stigma attached to the mental health issues that a soldier brings home from the front.
Guards around the nation are implementing similar programs, though the mandate apparently doesn't come with funding.
Florida Guard leaders say suicide among its returning troops is not perceived to be a problem. They said they have seen one suicide among their troops since 2003.
A Guardsman from Jacksonville killed himself near the Georgia border after returning from Iraq in 2005.
"But we know the potential for danger," said Ron Tittle, a Florida Guard spokesman. "We want to hit it early on. We want to make it easier for people to get help. There will be no repercussions. We're trying to end that old military concept that says if you go to a shrink, it will end your career."
It's all part of renewed attention about suicide within the military.
In Washington, even Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake conceded to Congress on Wednesday that his agency can do more to tell Guard and Reserve troops about the help available to them.
The VA reports that 53 percent of the 144 suicides in the military since 2001 have been among Guard or Reserve troops.
"I know members of our Guard and Reserve oftentimes don't think of themselves as veterans," Peake said. "They see themselves as going back to their same jobs. They sort of disassociate themselves with the VA system."
Peake said he wants more outreach to educate these troops and their families about how to recognize and respond to mental-health problems.
All too often, officials say, materials sent to troops are ignored like so much junk mail.
Lt. Col. Arnold Leeks, the deputy surgeon for the Florida Guard, said the Florida Guard efforts at suicide prevention focus on the individual.
"We're emphasizing the buddy system," Leeks said. "Look out for your buddy and keep an eye on how things are going at home. We're telling soldiers that, 'You may be fine now, but you still need to get enrolled in the VA system.'"
He said all troops are given a mental-health assessment upon returning from a deployment and are extensively briefed about benefits available to them through the VA.
They also are reassessed about three months after returning home.
For the Guard, a 100-member aviation unit based in Jacksonville is of special concern. Pilots and personnel in the group flew wounded soldiers in Iraq to medical help and saw the worst of the worst during a recent deployment.
"They've seen some horrific things," Tittle said.
That unit, home for several months, is being reassessed in two weeks.
"If we find that someone needs counseling, we get them to the VA as quickly as we can," Leeks said.
The Guard has referred about 1,000 of its troops to the VA since 2003, he said.
William R. Levesque can be reached at levesque@sptimes.com or 813 226-3436. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
How to get help
The VA suicide hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).