BRAIN WOUND UPDATE #15: Suicide hotline botched veteran’s cry for help. An investigation found critical breakdowns

Workers at the national Veterans Crisis Line mismanaged communication with a veteran who died by suicide within an hour of texting the hotline and failed for 10 years to establish protocols to save veterans’ text messages for future follow-up, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General.  

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BRAIN WOUND UPDATE #13: Holistic Total Force Fitness to Maximize Performance

A senior retired US Navy SEAL officer has weighed in with a six part justification for ACTION to fight suicide. His remarks relate to short- and long-term needs for dealing with force readiness amidst known challenges in the SpecOps community. His remarks are in concert with the Interview with the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC), Ramón Colón-López that follows his remarks.

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BRAIN WOUND UPDATE #11: Suicide Risk, Mental Health and Military TBIs

Individuals with a history of military-identified TBI had significantly higher rates of new-onset mental health conditions than those without TBI. Increased risk for suicide was associated indirectly (through new-onset mental health diagnoses) and directly with history of TBI. Meaning. These findings suggest that conceptualizing exposures (physical, psychological) as events that accumulate over an individual’s lifetime and increase risk for negative outcomes (eg, suicide) may assist in identifying mechanisms underlying frequently co-occurring conditions, as well as evidence-based interventions. Read more

BRAIN WOUND UPDATE #8: “New” Discoveries but Old News to Scientists Studying Brain Wounds

Military suicide rate rose 25% in first quarter, Pentagon reveals; Redefining Depression: TBI Affective Syndrome Discovered; Researchers identify first case of CTE found in a female athlete. Read more

IMPERATIVES: When “Certainty” in the VA Overrides Patient Health and Threatens Lives

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) top clinical priority is preventing suicide among all Veterans. Numerous other sports and medical institutions are similarly concerned about the toll taken by hits to the head. So here is some advice, rooted in some truths that will open up the diaologue and let brain-wounded get the insured help they need and deserve. Read more

Part 1 EPOCH TIMES: Blast Injury, Marine Injustice and no treatment for Brain Wounds from friendly fire

A former Marine artilleryman says he was neglected and unjustly treated by the branch after suffering brain injuries during a 2017 campaign to defeat ISIS in Syria. This is part 1 of a 2 part story. Read more

PART 2 EPOCH TIMES: Blast Injury, Marine Injustice and no treatment for Brain Wounds from friendly fire

A former Marine artilleryman says he was neglected and unjustly treated by the branch after suffering brain injuries during a 2017 campaign to defeat ISIS in Syria. This is part 2 of a 2 part story. Read more

Traumatic Brain Injury is more than a Mental Health problem

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: Untreated TBI/PTSD/Concussion will cost taxpayers $4.7 trillion over forty years. Treating and helping to heal those brain wounds using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can be done for one-half of one percent of that cost. And patients will be restored to a Quality of Life denied them under current protocols for brain wounds. Read more

Women and Concussion: CNN

These two women’s lives were tragically cut short after they sustained serious head injuries in their pursuit of sporting greatness and then took their own lives. Catlin was 23, while Soutter died by suicide on her 18th birthday. Read more

Dear Mr. President and Dr. Biden:

The following letter was delivered to the White House during the Burn Pit Legislation-signing ceremony. A similar letter was hand-delivered to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough, and is being delivered to the Secretary of Defense, GEN Lloyd J. Austin III. The challenge for the entire US Government, and medicine in general, is to expand the out-dated “standards of care” for brain wounds. That includes recognizing and properly diagnosing those brain wounds. We must teach and act on what science has demonstrated: mental health and wellness depend on a healthy brain. Read more