BLOUNTVILLE, TN (WJHL-TV) – More than 7,400 veterans took their own lives in 2014, and an event held at Northeast State Community College on Wednesday hoped to help raise awareness of this issue.
NSCC hosted the program called “The War on Veteran Suicide Starts At Home” and featured a very powerful video followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
“Right now, the statistic is 22 veterans commit suicide a day, and, to me, that is way too high. One a day is way too high,” Event Organizer John Hansen said. We’d like to reduce that number, so what we’ve done is we’re trying to raise awareness, get the regular civilian population to kind of understand it. We have experts here that are going to discuss it, we have a veteran here who is going to discuss his struggle and we have experts outside to help people if they need it.”
“I am the president of Northeast State’s Chapter of Student Veterans of America, and as soon as I got the title, I knew that I had to do something about veteran suicide and I feel like not enough people know about it, so I wanted to kind of raise awareness about it and have this event,” Hansen said.
Veterans many times have difficulty adjusting to life outside of the military, coming from a very structured and organized life to a life on their own.
“You’re going from from a very tribal society where everyone kind of takes care of each other, to a society where it is very individualistic, and that’s very hard for people to wrap their head around,” Hansen said. “A big number of veterans who commit suicide are Vietnam era, and so they were raised in a culture that kind of looked down on seeking mental health assistance and things like that.”
The panel consisted of Hansen along with a couple of counselors and a veteran who spoke about his own struggles that he faced after leaving the military.
Hansen added, “They’re worried about being perceived as weak, and they need to understand that it is not weakness to seek help. That it is actually a sign of strength.”
If a veteran is struggling to adjust to life after the service, they can go to the V-A, any crisis center, mental health or medical facility. Also, Hansen suggests that they call on their buddies from the military or people they have met.
“I’m a big advocate of people joining veterans groups when they get out like the American Legion, and our Student Veterans of America,” Hansen said.
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