Don't just talk about troubled vets, do something responsible about them

By Kayla Williams

Best Defense guest columnist

Rising suicide rates among military personnel and veterans
have received a great deal of attention from the media, advocacy organizations,
and pundits. While I appreciate the efforts to raise awareness and address the
problem, I am gravely concerned about the tone and method of much of this
coverage, some of which reminds me of Mrs. Lovejoy on The Simpsons, flinging her hand to her forehead and gasping
"Won't somebody think of the children?!" without providing solutions.

Rather than simply urging DoD and VA to do "something" or
"more," we should push for specific changes like those identified by CNAS in Losing the Battle  and increased use of evidence-based programs
such as those identified in the RAND study The War Within.

The media should acknowledge their responsibility to cover
military and veteran suicides carefully. There is a proven "contagion effect"
for suicide, and there are widely available recommendations
for journalists to follow in order to reduce imitations and encourage
help-seeking. Unfortunately, most
coverage does not follow those recommendations. An article
in Stars and Stripes last week is, in
my opinion, an egregious example of this -- it is irresponsible and hypocritical
to note that VA failed to provide the hotline number to someone in crisis while not providing it!* Every article
on military and veteran suicide should feature the crisis line, 800-273-TALK (veterans press 1).
Advocates who go on TV to talk about military and veteran suicides should
insist that it be included on-screen and mention it at least once. If you are
active in this community and don't have the number memorized, you are wrong.

I certainly don't hold advocates or the media uniquely
responsible. DoD and VA have a long way to go in improving their response to
high suicide rates, even though they are making
progress. However, this problem is too big for DoD or VA to address alone.
I know how powerful the feelings
of desperation can be, and it's time for all of us to come together to act,
rather than simply calling for someone else to do something. If you hear from
or know of a veteran who is suicidal, point them toward the right resources --
or call the hotline yourself and get them help. Change should start with each
of us -- and advocates, journalists, pundits, and bloggers must be aware that by ignoring available recommendations, they can
actually make the problem worse
rather than better. Learn the recommendations on how to cover suicide
responsibly. Follow them. Lives depend on it.

Kayla Williams is
author of Love
My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the US Army .

*When I called @LeoShane out on this via Twitter recently,
he responded, "It's going in print that way, and we're having a little trouble
with the web layout. But all the resources will be up there." At the time of
this writing, neither a list or resources nor the crisis line had been
added to the online version.