Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman and I also thank the chairman and the ranking member of the committee. I should say that, in addition to being a Member Congress, I am also a member of the Navy Reserve as a psychologist, but I want to make it clear I am not here representing the Navy or Navy psychology, but talking about those things which I see in our military. We have the best military in the world. We are strong, we are filled with strong servicemen and servicewomen, but our country has a crisis on its hands. On average, 22 military servicemembers and veterans die each day by their own hands. Nearly 1 in 5 suicides nationally is a veteran, even though veterans only make up 10 percent of the population, or about a million or so overall, 2 million overall. The suicide rate for veterans increased an average of 2.6 percent a year from 2005 to 2011, more than double the rate of increase for civilian suicide. Let me tell you what I hear from servicemembers: that those who are in high-tempo work, such as those in SOCOM, those who are Active Duty, those who have come back from Guard and Reserve, they have a very difficult time accessing mental health care. Whether it is family problems, financial crisis, or adapting from the stress of combat or post-traumatic stress, and preventing it from becoming post-traumatic stress disorder, we know that treatment early and identification early can be effective. But, quite frankly, there are just too few providers.…”