US soldiers in Afghanistan carrying food under enemy fire (AP Photo)
A number of recent reports show an alarming increase in mental health problems among veterans, and a local congressman
has crossed party lines to do something about it
Staten Island Congressman Michael McMahon (D-NY) has joined representative Tom Rooney (R-FL), in addition to Harry Teague (D-NM), and Phil Roe (R-TN) to announce the founding of the Congressional Invisible Wounds Caucus.
The mission of the caucus is to promote solutions for the mental health challenges facing service members and veterans.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced last month that suicide rates among male veterans (18-29) increased by 26% from 2005 to 2007.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki stated that 20% of the 30,000 Americans who take their own life each year are veterans.
“The recently announced 26% increase in suicides is not only disheartening--it is unacceptable,” said Rep. Michael McMahon.
The caucus will explore responses to rising incidents of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), depression, substance abuse, and suicide among veterans and active duty military.
Congressional Quarterly recently reported that more American military personnel took their own lives in 2009 than were killed in either the Afghanistan or Iraq wars.
In 2009, 259 men and women lost their lives serving their country in Afghanistan, and 76 were killed serving their country in Iraq--while 349 service members committed suicide.
“These statistics represent individuals who have devoted their lives to protecting our country," Congressman McMahon said. "Their pain has been neglected and ignored."
According to a RAND Corporation, nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of post traumatic stress or major depression.
Additionally, 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed.
“The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs must be prepared with the appropriate staff and funding to conduct post-deployment psychological screenings with a mental health professional for all service men and women," Congressman McMahon said.
"Evidently, the paper questionnaires currently in use simply do not suffice. How many more young men and women must die before we provide the necessary mental health care?”
Representative McMahon has been a strong advocate for veterans during his first term in office.
Last year, he teamed with Representative Tom Rooney (FL) to have $492 million in mental health care funding included in the Defense Authorization Bill.
McMahon/Rooney also succeeded in having a provision included in the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill which provides for confidential one-to-one mental health screenings for returning service-members.
Rep. McMahon had earlier authored a bill which made those screenings mandatory, but he welcomed the development as a first step.
John Signoriello can be contacted by email at siexaminer@yahoo.com
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