“I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”
Military Mental Health
What’s In a Name?
I want to add to the debate on the hot issue at the American Psychiatric Association this week. Retired Army general and vice chief of staff Peter Chiarelli made a strong case for re-naming post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Chiarelli advocates calling it post-traumatic stress injury. The Canadians use the term “operational …
Update: The 7,000 Mile Sniper Shot.
I wrote a few weeks ago about Marine Major Jeff Hackett, who killed himself in the aftermath of a collapse following his distinguished 26-year career. Major Hackett’s widow, Danielle was initially denied payment of Jeff’s $400,000 life insurance policy because when times got tough economically for Jeff, he missed a few payments. …
Vets: Help (May Be) on the Way
Two weeks after the Department of Veterans Affairs’ inspector general issued report eviscerating the agency for its handling of mental-health care, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki appeared before the House Committee on Veterans …
…Speaking of Moral Outrage…
For those of you keeping score at home, the blunt decision by a federal appeals court a year ago came as a shocker:
We willingly acknowledge that, in theory, the political branches of our government are better positioned than are the courts to design the procedures necessary to save veterans’ lives and to fulfill our country’s
…
Battered and Bruised Minds Lead to Homelessness
The Department of Veterans Affairs first-ever large-scale study of homeless vets shows that the vast majority of homeless vets have mental disorders. “Majorities of the newly homeless diagnosed with mental disorders…were …
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Artwork
The Army buys lots of things for the troops, but this is one we haven’t seen before. Behavioral artwork?
What’s especially surprising is that Thursday’s announcement was simply a declaration that the contracting office at Fort Gordon, Ga., intends to award a contract for an unspecified amount to “Perspective, LLC” of …
MIA: Nurse EMMA…
If you pore over the towering columns of reports and studies detailing the mental wreckage wrought by combat, you keep seeing that drugs prescribed to heal, or ease pain, are a double-edged sword. Just like a surgeon’s scalpel poking around your chest, they can help as well as hurt. There is a constant battle to keep track of the …
“Why I Quit the VA”
Nicholas Tolentino spelled out the reasons he resigned from New Hampshire’s main Department of Veterans Affairs health center Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
While his prepared remarks also detail just how flexible the VA’s data are when it comes to showing that vets are getting adequate mental-health …
“Told Ya So…”
Vets have been saying for years that mental-health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs has been inadequate. Lawmakers have echoed that refrain. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled vets’ access to mental-health care …
“On the locked MH [mental health] units, we found that back hallways were not continuously observable by staff and that ceiling tiles were removable, exposing potential anchor points for hanging.”
Two of the Time 100…
…announced Wednesday morning are familiar to Battleland readers: Time has former defense secretary Robert Gates writing about his ex-colleague, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells us about military mental-health mobilizer Barbara van Dahlen, …
Staff Sergeant Bales – Or His Lawyer — Refuses a Sanity Board
John Browne said Friday that he has refused to let his client participate in what’s known in the Army as a 706 Board or “sanity board.” His client is Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who stands charged by the U.S. Army with murdering 17 Afghan civilians outside Kandahar last month during a nighttime of fury.
As I noted here a …