“We have people who need our services and we can’t get to them,” said a counselor at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where soldiers considering suicide can wait weeks for help. “We need staff and until we get them, we will continue to have soldiers die.”
Soldiers stand at attention in 2014 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
In March, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the creation of an independent committee to review the military’s mental health and suicide prevention programs. Last year the Army issued fresh guidelines to its commanders on how to handle mental health issues in the ranks, . But daunting long-term challenges remain. Many soldiers fear the stigma of admitting to mental health issues within the internal military culture of self-sufficiency. And those who seek help often find that stigma is not only real, but compounded by bureaucratic obstacles.
“You’ve got to be paying attention to this when you see the statistics jump as they are,” Murkowski said. “Right now, you’ve got everybody. You’ve got the Joint Chiefs looking at Alaska and saying, ‘Holy smokes, what’s going on up there?’” “I know that I need help. There’s signs and I’ve waited long enough,” said Rivera, 48, who is assigned to Fort Hood in Texas. “I don’t want my children to suffer because of me not going to get help.”“Personally I’d feel more comfortable being able to talk to someone outside,” he said. “It would allow me to open up a lot more without having to be worried about how it’s going to affect my career.
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