This isn’t an easy post to write because let’s face it, we like stories of heroes not of human frailty. We gloss over the numbers, because it’s someone else’s family nevertheless, it’s important to mention the point again: 20 veterans die by suicide every day. The suicide rate among veterans is 1-1/2 times higher than among the general population and the problem is bigger than the VA.
Early in the first week of April 2019, the statistics finally reached the ears of lawmakers. In that 3 veterans died by suicide at veteran’s administration facilities over a five-day period. One veteran shot himself in the parking lot of a 
VA hospital, another shot himself outside of a hospital entrance, and the third committed suicide in a VA hospital waiting room in front of several hundred people.
After receiving the news, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs said that the deaths were “unacceptable and devastating.” He continued: “While we have taken a number of steps to address and prevent veteran suicide, this weekend’s tragic deaths clearly indicate that we must do better.”
The Problem is Bigger than the VA
The VA has plans in the works to partner with upwards of seven states to expand its suicide prevention programs.
Committing of suicides on VA properties is not a new phenomenon, and the reasons given for the suicides (in some cases, and obviously beforehand), is to draw attention to the depression.
On February 7, 2019, the Washington Post ran an article about suicide deaths in VA parking lots. The article did an in-depth study of the 19 suicides in VA facilities between October 2017 and November 2018. The history of those suicides shows, each one, suffered from the indifference and the ineptitude of the system. In a related article, on April 12, 2019, Stars and Stripes magazine reported on 260 attempts at VA facilities but that 240 were prevented by staff members.
Rep. Mark Takano, (D-California), stated:
“Every new instance of veteran suicide showcases a barrier to access, but with three incidents on VA property in just five days, and six this year alone, it’s critical we do more to stop this epidemic. All Americans have a role to play in reducing veteran suicide, and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is going to make this issue a top priority.” The problem is bigger than the VA.
More posturing or more action?
The “barrier to access” the Congressman talked about is nothing new, and in fact, it’s the typical posturing that politicians are famous for in Washington. We send young people off to war, they witness the unspeakable, many come back with PTSD, and we leave them to suffer in silence. I suppose it has always been that way, but in this digital time of communications, scheduling, video conferencing and indeed, platforms such as Skype, WhatsApp, and FaceTime, why has it been so difficult for veterans in serious psychological condition to get in front of a mental health consultant?
The obvious answer is that behind the posturing is an antiquated, impossible to navigate a system that is underfunded and irrelevant to most of America. It is almost as though there has been an unethical and unbalanced system of non-veterans and veterans; has and have nots.
There is a not so subtle fraud that is being perpetrated on our veteran community where the promises of good care for serving are largely limited to slogans and sound-bites. The American people have largely been segregated from the realities of veteran healthcare. Sometimes, to call attention to the inequity, veterans take their lives. It is the only protest they can envision and it is beyond tragic.
