ARLINGTON, Va. - As part of events marking the start of National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, senior Army National Guard leaders have called on Soldiers to take action and take proactive steps to improve resilience and learn more about the warning signs and triggers of suicide.
“These are not optional or feel-good statements,” said Army Lt. Gen. Timothy Kadavy, the director of the Army Guard. “I’m very serious about this. Personally, I’ve had several tragedies related to suicide within my career and life, most recently in the last 30 days.”
Suicide continues to be one of the most complex and challenging issues facing not only the Army Guard, but also the nation, said Kadavy. Throughout September, a variety of events are planned throughout the Army Guard as a way to provide greater focus and emphasis on building support and resilience as a means to preventing suicide.
“The important part is discussing it, understanding it and getting the help and assistance where it’s needed,” said Kadavy, adding that suicides within the Army Guard are down from where they were just a few years ago.
To date this year, 62 Army Guard Soldiers have taken their lives, he said. In 2014, there were 77 suicides. That’s down from about 120 per year when suicides in the Army Guard began to be tracked in 2009.
“Of course, one life and loss to suicide is one too many,” said Kadavy. “Regardless of whether the rate is going up or down, so long as a single Soldier takes his or her own life we owe it to the Soldiers we serve with to focus on how to prevent and reduce suicides within our ranks.”
Kadavy credits a greater focus on building resilience throughout the Army Guard and on proactive efforts that encourage Soldiers to seek help and watch out for one another with bringing those numbers down.
“Interventions which indicate that Soldiers are helping themselves and others are up,” said Kadavy. “We had a 30 percent increase in interventions between 2013 and 2014 and our numbers are an identical improvement for 2015.”
If you need immediate help, please call 911 or the Military Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 and press 1. Find more resources here: http://www.guardyourhealth.com/health-topics/suicide-prevention/
However, regardless of the figures, each number represents an individual, said Kadavy.
“Having looked at these numbers for the last five years there is the tendency to look at them as just numbers,” he said. “But each one of the numbers represents a life, a Soldier a family and that’s what you have to remember as we go about our life and our daily duties.”
Kadavy added that ensuring that help and treatment is accessible for those that may need it is part of being a strong leader.
“When we joined, we made a commitment to each other,” he said. “I will never leave a fallen comrade. Whether (you) are dying on the battlefield or hurting at home, the team agrees they will do all they can to help you.”
Army Guard members also have access to a number of other methods of connecting with mental health providers, said Kadavy.
That includes the “Guard Ready” mobile application, which helps connect Soldiers with mental health care professionals and resources in their local areas, with resources available in all 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia.
Other programs, such as the Department of Defense’s Give an Hour, connects at-risk Soldiers to trained clinicians who volunteer their professional time and the Vets for Warriors program provides free confidential outreach for Soldiers who need it.
“There are many more of these programs provided at the state and local level outside of the resources we have,” said Kadavy, adding that traditional resources such as chaplains and mental health providers within the Army Guard also stand as available resources.
Identifying the warnings signs and ensuring Soldiers are encouraged to seek treatment is key, Kadavy said.
Others agreed, including Kim Ruocco, a suicide survivor who spoke with Soldiers at the Army National Guard Readiness Center during events marking the start of Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.
“We are accustomed to pushing through obstacles and doing what is asked of us,” she said. “We are not used to asking for help or expressing our flaws.”
Ruocco’s husband, a Marine Corps helicopter pilot, ended his life in 2005 after battling severe depression. She said that while she identified several warnings signs in her husband, she felt a reticence to seek out mental health providers or inform his chain of command.
“I worried that if I told anybody he was not OK, I’d make things worse for him,” she said. “I felt that getting help for him was some sort of betrayal.”
Kadavy stressed that identifying suicide warning signs, seeking help and ensuring those who need help receive the help they need is not a sign of weakness or betrayal.
“Everybody has the responsibility to improve personal resilience, to learn the warning signs and triggers of suicide and to take action when necessary to support your fellow Soldiers and co-workers when it appears someone is at risk to harm themselves,”
That’s an inherent, and important, part of being a Soldier, said Kadavy.
“As a Soldier we have a unique and special responsibility to our units and those we serve with,” he said. “We fight for our brothers and sisters to our left and our right. We don’t let our team down. We don’t leave our team and we don’t leave anyone behind.”
If you need immediate help, please call 911 or the Military Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 and press 1. Find more resources here: http://www.guardyourhealth.com/health-topics/suicide-prevention/