Veterans Administration
How to address veteran suicide–other than filming ourselves doing pushups, I mean.
I've done the 22 pushups-thing. Other than giving my giant mutt unfettered access to thoroughly tongue my ears, I can't say they accomplished much. That's not completely true--my ears are sparkly clean--but that wasn't the point. The short videos were supposed to help raise awareness that an alarming number of veterans are choosing to take their own lives. I don't know who started the whole campaign but I think it has, thankfully, run its course. Veteran suicide, on the other hand, hasn't gone away. Funny thing, that. Letting folks know about the problem is one thing. Addressing it [...]
What’s A “Vet Center?”
My last combat tour was in 2004 and I just recently went to talk to a counsellor at my local Vet Center. Why did it take me nine years to do this? Mostly because I didn't know anything about the Vet Centers. I envisioned the Veterans Administration as a monolithic organization that sucks you in and sticks pills down your throat as soon as you walk in the door. There was no way I was going to put myself in that position. This post is designed to shed some light on the misperceptions I had about the VA, specifically the [...]
Why Do We Shun Help?
It's no secret that the vast majority of people in distress can get relief by asking for help. Indeed, most issues get worse when ignored, not better. This is especially true for veterans where adjustment issues and PTSD mutate into insurmountable obstacles for the lack of professional assistance. So why, if help is available, do we prolong our suffering by refusing to ask for help? Because that's how we were brought up. I don't mean by our parents or society. I mean by the military. The changes a person goes through when joining the military are designed to prepare them [...]
Recent Comments