September 2014

Tom Mahany started a hunger strike on Veterans Day 2009 lasting 29 days to draw attention to the issue of combat stress and related suicide. He fasted again in August of 2012, this time for 17 days, when he learned that the number of suicides among active duty service members had doubled from June to July.

Now Mahany heads up the veterans’ advocacy group Honor for ALL, which organizes an annual event, Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds, to raise awareness of posttraumatic stress injury.

This year’s event recognized the passing of legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp designating June 2014 as National Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month. JB Moore, NAMI Manager for Military and Veterans Policy and Support, represented NAMI at the event.

Though usually held in Washington, D.C., Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds took place in New York City on Saturday, June 28, 2014 and was co-hosted by the Mental Health Association of New York City. The scope of the program was expanded to include first responders and victims of abuse.

The keynote speaker Staff Sergeant Ty Carter, who has struggled with PTSD, was the 2013 recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. When awarding the Medal of Honor, President Obama described SSgt. Carter this way, “He’s as tough as they come. And if he can find the courage and the strength to not only seek help, but also to speak out about it, to take care of himself and to stay strong, then so can you.”

In addition to SSgt. Carter, officials included commissioners from the New York City police and fire departments, representatives from the Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Navy; the Wounded Warrior Project; Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA); Service Women’s Action Network.

“It is reprehensible that an estimated 22 veterans take their lives each day”, declared JB in her remarks.  “Posttraumatic stress is treatable. Let’s eradicate stigma!”

According to Mahany, “There was an unmistakable message from the event. Posttraumatic stress is an injury that needs to be accepted and honored as such. If we don’t attend to it, it will be allowed to progress into a disorder.”

Earlier this year, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014 – introduced by U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), as part of this year’s National Defense Authorization (NDAA) bill.  If passed, this legislation will: (1) Require annual mental health assessments for all service members-Active, Reserve, and Guard; (2) Establish a working group between the Department of Defense and Department of Health and Human Services; and (3) Require an interagency report to evaluate existing military mental health practices and provide recommendations for improvement.

According to Mary Giliberti, NAMI’s Executive Director, “The National Alliance on Mental Illness strongly supports the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014 and applauds Senator Donnelly for his recognition that suicide rates among active duty service members, National Guardsmen and Reservists are unacceptably high and in dire need of attention.  This important piece of legislation advances NAMI’s goals of parity, accountability, collaboration and action.”

Honor for ALL is already at work organizing next year’s National Posttraumatic Stress Awareness activities. Events will be held in New York, Michigan, San Diego, and Indianapolis, all on Saturday June 27, 2015.

Tom Mahany believes the sure sign of true awareness about posttraumatic stress will be when Major League Baseball plays with purple bats for the month of June


                                            
                                        

Honor for ALL Initiates Post-traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day in 2014

Honor for ALL is responsible for initiating the first governmental resolution of its kind designating Post-traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day

Adopted concurrently by the House and Senate of the State of Michigan, June 23, 2014:

June 27, 2014, is designated ‘‘Michigan Post-traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day’’

Whereas the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces, who proudly serve the United States, risk their lives to protect the freedom of the United States and deserve the investment of every possible resource to ensure their lasting physical, mental, and emotional well-being;

Whereas more than 2,000,000 United States service members have deployed as part of overseas contingency operations since the events of September 11, 2001;

Whereas the military has sustained an operational tempo for a period of time unprecedented in the history of the United States, with many service members deploying multiple times to combat zones, placing them at high risk of post-traumatic stress injury (referred to in this preamble as “PTSI”);

Whereas it is expected that ten thousand veterans will return to the State of Michigan every year for the next three to five years after spending a significant amount of time in combat environments, exposing thousands of soldiers to traumatic life threatening events;

Whereas the Department of Veterans Affairs reports that in fiscal year 2012, more than 500,000 veterans from all wars sought care at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center received treatment for PTSI;

Whereas PTSI significantly increases the risk of depression, suicide, and drug and alcohol related disorders and deaths;

Whereas the Department of Defense and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs have made significant advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSI and the symptoms of PTSI, many challenges remain; and

Whereas the establishment of a Michigan Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day will raise public awareness about issues related to PTSI:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the (Senate/House) —

(1) designates June 27, 2014, as ‘‘Michigan Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day’’;

2) urges the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency and The Adjutant General to continue working to educate servicemembers, veterans, the families of servicemembers and veterans, and the public about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of post-traumatic stress injury; and

(3) respectfully requests that the –(Sec of the Senate/Clerk of the House)– transmit a copy of this resolution to the governor of the State of Michigan.

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Honor For All

Individual Bills, Resolutions and Proclamations 2018

http://www.honorforall.org/directors-brief/

frank
Dr. Ochberg, a graduate of Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University, has a long history of working to both define PTSD and to raise awareness on the subject and possible treatments.

Frank Ochberg, M.D., a psychiatrist, has been a leading mental health authority since the 1960s.

Dr. Ochberg is a founding board member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and recipient of their highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

He edited the first text on treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and served on the committee that defined PTSD.

Dr. Ochberg has also founded, headed or been part of a number of organizations dealing with PTSD and its treatment, including Gift From Within (founder), Critical Incident Analysis Group CIAG (founder) and The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma (chairman emeritus).

Dr. Ochberg believes in the mission of the Honor for ALL and serves as the organization’s medical advisor.

Kent HallKent joined the Stop the Loss Foundation after hearing about Doug Price’s work with the group and feeling a connection when looking into Dr. Ochberg’s work on PTSD.

Kent was a Sergeant in Phu Bai with 220th RAC in 1969.

Kent has suffered with PTSD for decades, avoiding help as he did not know what was wrong.

He came very close to becoming another suicide statistic, but thanks in part to Doug Price, Tom Mahany and Dr. Frank Ochberg at Honor For All, he came to a better understanding of PTSD and now volunteers to speak to groups about the stigma that too often leads to suicide for our veterans.

Kent hopes to motivate others to understand what Stop the Loss works for: an understanding that PTSD is not a weakness, it’s a wound and help is available for veterans and their families.

The following is a poem written by Kent:

Hell

The worst feeling man has ever known,
Are the times when he’s hurt and all alone.
I know that feeling all to well,
On my sinful journey into Hell.
The pain, the struggle, the grief,
The wretched feelings beyond belief,
The scars and wrinkles began to tell,
Of the rough tough road into Hell.
I watched a man today,
Trying hard to find his way,
He staggered, he stumbled, then he fell,
Into the fiery depths of Hell.
I tried so hard not to see,
When I realized that man was me.
My own soul again I would sell,
To keep you my friend out of Hell
There must be a better way
Will I find it somehow, someday?
Can I be the one to dispel,
That all powerful attraction to Hell??