There are an estimated 22 military veterans who take their lives every day according to the Military Veteran Project. What do we need to know about mental health for those who serve? It’s a combination of awareness, community effort, and removing the stigma.
“You know all of a sudden I’m locking my doors six, seven times, I’m sleeping with a shotgun next to my bed, you know it’s these little things, cause you just think of security,” said Cody Knapp is a former specialist for the Army National Guard. Knapp served in Guantanamo Bay as a prison guard and tells me the area where he was stationed was looked at as a vacation spot among other military personnel.
Katie Coric is a Suicide Prevention Coordinator for Veteran’s Affairs. She notes that one issue surrounding mental health is the stigma which betters over time as a community effort, “You know maybe if I go to mental health counseling I let a few people know and maybe that decreases the stigma if they need to go to mental health counseling. I think being willing to share our own experiences with mental health and kind of what helped us helps too,” said Coric.
Read more at News10.com.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.