If you are experiencing any of these thoughts or actions, you should seek immediate support. Call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, use the Veterans Crisis Line online chat, or send a text message to the Veterans Crisis Line at 838255. The Veterans Crisis Line provides free, confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If you feel you are in a crisis, whether or not you're thinking about killing yourself, you can also contact the Veterans Crisis Line. It's better to call sooner, rather than wait for problems to get worse.
If you recognize any of the following signs of suicide in yourself or others, you should reach out for support:
The following warning signs require immediate attention:
It is important to get help right away if you notice any of the signs above. Getting support can help you see that solutions to your problems exist and that suicide is not the answer.
Again, IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS, PLEASE CALL:
1.800.273.8255 then press 1
Veterans Crisis Line
(If anyone knows of other resources please reply with the info.)
They need a helpline for medical treatment as well for veterans. It’s a disgrace (probably malpractice but I’m not an expert) on how some veterans are (mis)treated.
I always thought it was stupid to dial the number then press one, if your in a crisis not likely your in the mood to press one.
The problem with EVERY government agency is the as the government itself. They are all too big.
Each VA Hospital should stand alone with the head of that hospital responsible for his or her hospital. They should put together their own individual budget and be given what get whst they need to treat their vets. AND NO UNIONS!
The problem with EVERY government agency is the same as the government itself. They are all too big.
Each VA Hospital should stand alone with the head of that hospital responsible for his or her hospital. They should put together their own individual budget and be given what they need to treat their vets. AND NO UNIONS! Bonuses? Your bonus is you get to keep your job if you’re good at it.
Huldah - thanks for this.
What you posted is true. No matter how down you’re feeling, there are resources to help. They don’t have to be VA. There are other resources and organizations available to help not just veterans, but family members or anyone.
The hardest step to take is the first one. Tell someone. You can ‘transmit’ all the signals to everyone you know and then wonder why they don’t demand you talk to someone. The problem is, we’re all proud. Nobody gets it, right? Nobody would understand, right? I’m weak if I ask for help, right?
No. They may not get it, but they do understand and it’s not weak to ask for help. When you’re in training on an obstacle course (or “confidence course” as they called them in my time) you have to rely on the team to get over the wall. Everyone helps the other.
You may not be on a team now. but there are people out there who care about you. Not just your family and loved ones. People that don’t even know you, people you’ve never met.
Just like you would jump in when you see someone in need, regardless of whether you knew them or not. You’d risk yourself for any sister or brother. Same thing.
What you have to do is talk to someone. That’s hard.
I did this. When I was down the point of driving to an isolated place where my loved ones would not have to clean up the mess or see the aftermath, and where I had chosen the gun and the particular bullet, and I had been self-medicating (as they say) with alcohol for more than a decade, when I was at my lowest point...I asked for help.
The doctor said, “I’m sure you would rather have me carve out an organ without anesthesia than tell me these things.” He was right. And he talked to me some more and walked me down a hall to talk to the shrink.
The shrink was a nice, caring lady. I didn’t know her or the doc from Adam. And they didn’t know me. Didn’t matter. They helped me
Ask someone that can help you. It may be your doc, it may be the crisis phone line. They’re not going to come and bundle you up in a straight jacket or call you weak.
You can drop as many hints as you like to the people around you. They will worry but other than that, you probably won’t get what you need.
You need to flat out tell someone that you need some help dealing with things. Straight up. Be honest. Like I said, that’s hard.
For those around veterans, smack them in the face with this. Don’t just say, “you need professional help”. Say, “see this person” or “call this number”. And back it up. Be a drill sergeant - make them see someone or talk to someone. Make them.
The bottom line is eating a bullet or swallowing that bottle of pills is not an answer. Please. If these things have even crossed your mind, talk to someone who can help.
Kit.
Ditch the system and hand out vouchers to vets...Some of these guys have to drive 30, 40 miles and often much further just to get to the VA hospital.
Would someone please ask the Senator from Arizona about Sgt Thomsen?
This is criminal.
The bureaucrats at the VA are organized crime.
Great post. I recommend saving it for future reference. Not a professional but I now see PTS as after-the-fact stress caused by most any mental or physical trauma.
Approximately 12-years ago “Things” were getting to me and defied my attempts to understand much less sort out. Issues appeared related to service in RVN but I blew it off thinking I’d made peace with that long ago. Finally I went to the Vet Center on Rt.1 in Alexandria, Virginia. Spoke to a fellow, giving him the basics of my concerns and requested to sit in on at least one session of a group discussion with other Vets.
His unequivocal answer was NO.
Based on no more than our benign conversation, his judgement was that my participation would be disruptive to the group. Oddly enough and unbeknownst to me, a fellow from my company was a member of that group. We’d met at a battalion reunion and I recognized him from a group photo.
So off I went into the backroom of my Cave. It was there one Sunday morning that by chance I heard Dr. Jonathan Shay discuss his then new book “Achilles In Vietnam. I credit Dr. Shay and his follow-on volume with helping understand myself. That said, the time on either side of getting here wasn’t easy. Worst of all, I wasn’t the most congenial of persons.
I’ve now successfully been in “Recovery” for 10-years. I understand the pitfalls of self-medication whether “how to” book or otherwise. Even so, honestly responding to the warning signs listed in the posting reveal me to be a “work in progress”.
Fine Business.