Veteran Organizations Have to Step UP to End the Suicide Epidemic

Bottom Line UP Front (BLUF): If you want to help end suicides, you have to help heal Brain Wounds so that Service Members have a chance at a lifetime of health, not a moment of relaxation from pain and suffering.

It's a maxim for anyone familiar with Washington DC that it is virtually impossible to get rid of bureaucracy and organizations. It's almost as hard to fix them.This has practical and medical implications for helping to heal Brain Wounds and ending the Suicide and Opioid Overdose Epidemics afflicting DoD, the VA, and the nation.

Consider: since 9/11, over 66,000 Veteran help organizations have come into being. This is on the back of the hundreds of federally chartered/recognized Veteran Service Organizations that already existed to help Veterans. All this while the VA's budget has quintupled in the same period (surprise: they want billions more.)

Side by side, the Mental Health Market is expected to grow to $570B by 2030 From $415B in 2023. In 2022, there were 11,647 mental health facilities in the US, and 14,700 facilities providing substance use treatment. Few of them even know that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) can help reverse the suicide epidemic and reduce opioid prescription abuses by healing brain wounds. This is a BIG boulder to move if we want to really provide brain wound healing to Veterans.

Here's a sample of what we're up against in trying to evolve a medical system that must change to properly heal brain wounds.‍

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American Legion

AMVETS

Disabled American Veterans (DAV)

Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH)

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)

Blinded Veterans Association (BVA)

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA)

Marine Corps League (MCL)

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (CGMA)

Association of the United States Army

Navy League of the United States

Paralyzed Veterans of America

American Ex-Prisoners of War

American G.I. Forum

American Veterans Committee (2013–present day)

American Veterans for Equal Rights

Army and Navy Union

Academy of United States Veterans

Air Force Association

Aztec Club (organized by officers of the Mexican War)

Catholic War Veterans

Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association

Fleet Reserve Association

Forty and Eight

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Iraq War Veterans Organization

Jewish War Veterans

Military Officers Association of America

Military Order of the Carabao (organized by officers of the Philippine Insurrection)

Military Order of the Cootie

Military Order of the Dragon (organized by officers of the China Relief Expedition)

Military Order of Foreign Wars (organized by veterans of the Mexican War)

Military Order of the Loyal Legion (organized by Union army officers)

Military Order of the Stars and Bars (organized by Confederate army officers)

Military Order of the World Wars (organized by officers of World War I)

Montford Point Marines

National Association for Black Veterans

National Guard Association of the United States

Navy Musicians Association

Navy Mutual Aid Association

Polish Legion of American Veterans

Society of American Military Engineers

Society of the Cincinnati (organized by American Continental Army officers)

State Guard Association of the United States

Student Veterans of America

Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)

Ukrainian American Veterans

United States Submarine Veterans

Veterans' Alliance for Security and Democracy

Veterans for Common Sense

Veterans for Peace

Veterans of Foreign Wars

Vietnamese American Armed Forces Association

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)

On September 28, 2023, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin released a memo directing urgent actions to address suicide in the military community. His Team made 127 near- and long-term recommendations to address this critical problem within the ranks. The Secretary's memo outlines the Department's campaign to reduce the number of suicides throughout the Armed Forces across five lines of effort — Foster a Supportive Environment, Improve the Delivery of Mental Health Care, Address Stigma and Other Barriers to Care, Revise Suicide Prevention Training, and Promote a Culture of Lethal Means Safety.

Now consider the Organizations that the DoD's Suicide Prevention Strategy recommends be part of "the Team" to accomplish those five lines of effort:

• A Team Leader, appointed by the Governor, who serves as the point of contact throughout the Policy Academy process, and throughout the process of implementing the action plan. A team may also elect to have a co-leader if desired.

• Mayor’s Challenge Team Leader(s), if applicable

• Senior level suicide prevention and behavioral health representatives from:

o State/territory agencies responsible for mental health, substance abuse (e.g., Single State Authority), and State Veterans Affairs

o National Guard (i.e., The Adjutant General or his/her representative)

o Medicaid and/or Social Security

o Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) serving your state/territory (Chief Mental Health Officer and/or VISN Suicide Prevention lead)

• Leadership from SMVF Caregiver Organizations

• Private sector provider and peer support leadership from programs serving the health and behavioral health needs of Service members, Veterans, and their families

• Data and evaluation lead

Teams are encouraged to consider the needs of SMVF in selecting other members of the team. Examples include leadership from:

• Federally recognized tribes

• Reserve Affairs

• Community Veterans Engagement Board (CVEB)

• VA Community Engagement and Partnership program (Community Engagement and Partnership Program Manager [CEP-PM] or Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator [CEPC])

• Crisis response system lead

• Law enforcement

• The public and private sectors in labor/employment, criminal justice, housing/homelessness, primary care, substance abuse and mental health services (including suicide prevention), and child/family issues

• Academic partners: colleges and universities

• SMVF advocacy groups and social/public health organizations or coalitions

• The faith-based community

• Public school systems

• State and/or local legislators

• Outreach or public information/public affairs

• State/territory Medical Boards and/or licensing authorities (Social Work, Nursing, Mental Health Professions, etc.)

• Members from diverse populations including historically underrepresented groups (Women, ethnic minority advocacy organizations, LBGTQ+ organizations, etc.)

• Military spouse organizations, caregiver support organizations, etc.

Kind of wears you out just contemplating all the moving parts. And Eisenhower thought HE had it bad orchestrating D-Day. Remember, he warned against the military-industrial complex. Today, in just the medical universe, it has metasticized into something like a Leviathan: the military-industrial-contractor-academic-research-insurance-Pharmaceutical-banking and -not-for-profit complex.

Let's cut to the chase on Suicide Prevention that all those organizations need to know: Heal Brains. Stop Suicides. Restore Lives. TreatNOW. Hyperbaric Oxygenation is helping worldwide.

Now get out there and refer the brain wounded to us and lobby those VSOs and your state legislatures to join in the functional medicine approach to helping restore health and Quality of Life to the wounded and their families. Get the VSOs to fund and lobby hard at the state and federal levels to actually help heal brain wounds.

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