Black People : one person on active duty kills himself every day; one veteran dies by his own hand every 80 mins

[skuderjaymes]

Why Heroes Kill Themselves

Posted: 11/10/2012 11:34 am
Imagine that you're hung over and haven't slept in two nights. You can't think clearly, can't focus or concentrate. You forget things -- even important things -- and spend your energy just trying to stay awake and drag yourself through the day. When you finally get to sleep, you drift off hoping tomorrow will be better. But it won't. That's what life with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is like, relentlessly.
It's one reason suicide rates among the military are at an all-time high. Additionally, the brain changes identified among athletes who committed suicide are being inflicted upon military personnel with the same deadly result -- one person on active duty now kills himself every day; one veteran dies by his own hand every 80 minutes. Suicide is now the most common form of death in the Army, claiming more lives than combat or motor vehicle accidents. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, Army Vice Chief of Staff,said: "Suicide is the toughest enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the Army." This enemy will not be defeated until we recognize the link between TBI and suicide, and are able to quickly and effectively diagnose and treat TBI.

Full story @ http://huff.to/Z4aMoo

 

[dunwiddat]

Why Heroes Kill Themselves

Posted: 11/10/2012 11:34 am
Imagine that you're hung over and haven't slept in two nights. You can't think clearly, can't focus or concentrate. You forget things -- even important things -- and spend your energy just trying to stay awake and drag yourself through the day. When you finally get to sleep, you drift off hoping tomorrow will be better. But it won't. That's what life with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is like, relentlessly.
It's one reason suicide rates among the military are at an all-time high. Additionally, the brain changes identified among athletes who committed suicide are being inflicted upon military personnel with the same deadly result -- one person on active duty now kills himself every day; one veteran dies by his own hand every 80 minutes. Suicide is now the most common form of death in the Army, claiming more lives than combat or motor vehicle accidents. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, Army Vice Chief of Staff,said: "Suicide is the toughest enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the Army." This enemy will not be defeated until we recognize the link between TBI and suicide, and are able to quickly and effectively diagnose and treat TBI.

Full story @ http://huff.to/Z4aMoo

Suicide is serious. War brings so many evils in its wake. Years ago I read an article in a church magazine, The Plain Truth where it stated that blacks have the lowest suicide rate in the world. Blacks seem to have a better coping mechanism than most. I am not sure about the ethnic composition in the US military but which ever group is included in the suicide rate it is very sad.

Thanks for posting. Many of us do not see the other victims of warfare.

 

[cherryblossom]

Game Face: The trap of black male masculinity

Opinion

by Terrie M. Williams | September 19, 2012 at 2:49 PM
Smart, successful and handsome. Chris Lighty seemed to have it all and yet… he took his life. What went wrong? There have been speculations of alleged financial and marital woes, but so far that has not been confirmed. I never had the opportunity to meet Chris, so I’m unable to speak with any degree of certainty as to why this beloved brother chose to end his life at such a young age. What I do know is that this tragic loss is another wake up call.
RELATED: Chris Lighty, legendary hip-hop manager, found dead from apparent suicide at 44
Suicide, among men in general, is on the rise — and particularly, among black men. The similarly tragic death of Don Cornelius immediately comes to mind as evidence of this. When men of like Cornelius and Lighty commit suicide it sparks a national conversation. Yet, the truth of the matter is that black men commit suicide everyday — and it’s always tragic. I’m hoping that we begin to pay closer attention to all of those men in our lives who may be suffering and to recognize the signs of depression.
When I wrote Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting, I interviewed hundreds of men who told their stories. What I learned is that all too often black men are emotionally doomed from early childhood. From the moment they can understand it, they are told not to cry, and that only sissies shed tears.
Renowned educator and author Geoffrey Canada put it this way:

There was a time when we were little that we could tell our mother about the pain, but then our mother, like lots of women raising boys, began to worry that we would be soft, that we wouldn’t grow up to be men, that we had to toughen up. It was rough out there and she couldn’t protect us. She knew one of the first things used to taunt boys is to say, “oh, you’re a mama’s boy.” “Go tell your mother.” So after a while we begin to say, “oh, I can’t tell, Mommy anything,” and we stopped telling. Once we stopped telling her, it was easier not to tell anybody anything.​

Our brothers are so beautiful; I’m constantly struck by the magnificence of black male style: the swagger, the flair, the sheer originality. Yet I’m also struck by just how much sadness lies underneath the shiny exterior that is layered over the vulnerability, shame, frustration and pain...

...continued here:
http://thegrio.com/2012/09/19/game-face-the-trap-of-black-male-masculinity/

 

[cherryblossom]

Why Heroes Kill Themselves

Posted: 11/10/2012 11:34 am
...

Full story @ http://huff.to/Z4aMoo

This same thing is found among policemen and other fields also.

In our society, being a "man" is synonymous with being "tough" and being able to "suck it up" and go on, no matter what the issue is, be it WAR or DEATH or any other hurt/pain which relates to Depression.

---This is especially noted in the "image" of the "HYPER-Masculine" Black male who is expected to be "HARD" in order to be a "real man."

....Moreover, the STIGMA attached to any kind of "mental problem" like DEPRESSION and PTSD is also why men, Black and white, are not apt to seek counseling for their depression. --- Many internalize it and often turn to alcohol and drugs....and have "anger management" problems.

....Back in the 90s, I remember a slew of media reports about veterans of "Desert Storm" going on a rampage and killing their wives, children and themselves.

Veterans or not, most men won't admit or seek help for depression because it is viewed as being "WEAK."

In the military and the police force, it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma.>>>> Often they are OFFERED "counseling" after deployment (military) or after a particularly gruesome crime (police) but if they ACCEPT the counseling, they are STIGMATIZED by their peers and superiors AND it is cited in their Personnel Files that they received "COUNSELING" and what for....Files that will FOLLOW them to their NEXT military post or police precinct....Files that will be read in consideration of PROMOTIONS in RANK, military and police.

So, what will a "REAL MAN" do?!----He's gonna "SUCK IT UP" and go on. ....Aint nuthin' wrong with me....I don't need no "counseling.".....I'm aiight.....I'm good....etc...

And THIS is what contributes to SUICIDES among VETERANS and Policemen....when these LIES they have to tell themselves don't work any more, then they "eat their guns."

Yes, this is a SAD and CRUEL state for our men to have to suffer.

From BOY-hood, they are told that it is WEAK to CRY and as ADULTS, those who can't hold back/swallow the tears any longer will often turn to SUICIDE.

Now, WE can't change what the LARGER society dictates; but as a PEOPLE, we gotta find some MIDDLE GROUND between "WEAK" and "HARD" so our young men and elders won't feel that SUICIDE is their ONLY way out of their pain.

 

[mywordsfly]

The scary part is that they are young veterans.

The problem is that despite the billions pumped into the military, we never stop to seriously analyze the organization that is allowed to run wild and dehumanize world-wide, composed mostly of teenagers (a few boys from my own family included) who are pulled in because of the promise of education. They are conditioned. Consider being in a rural area with only the same people, using words such as "infidels" and "heathens" on a daily basis for 8 months. And then maybe a second tour. It's sad, but it explains the product that the military produces after four years.