suicide epidemic

Over 66,000 Veteran Service Organizations have sprung up since 9/11. No one can doubt the overwhelming resilience of most Veterans and the goodwill shown by foundations and volunteers, and billions of dollars of donated monies spent to restore normalcy to Veterans injured in war. No doubt the intentions of investigators on the DOD Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee meant well with their Report that encouraged “caring contacts” but said not a word about healing brain wounds. The entire tenor of the Report ignores any discussion about the physiological underpinnings of suicidal ideation. Suicide continues to be viewed as a problem fixable by more human contact, mental health programs, and psychiatric and drug interventions, not as a physiological condition brought about in any way by an untreated brain wound.