Day 3 of 22: Veteran Suicide Risks

Also, it's my birthday...

I decided on some potential suicide causes today because so many people will not have another birthday and it breaks my heart.

But first for the push-ups—same incline as yesterday (tomorrow, which is to say this evening as of your reading, I move to the counter—need to take some measures to get that accurately.


But back to my push-ups.

Got home. Moved the dishes from the sink to the dishwasher (animals, I live with—I'm telling you), started the dishwasher, took out trash and recycling... And now it is time.

By danydarko96

Oh GADS! I thought that would be okay—the arm circles didn't hurt as badly today as yesterday, but that first push-up let me know my right triceps screamed. By 5 I was feeling it all over and my 12 I was straining. I was shaking by the last two... repeat strain, I suppose... Tired muscles with no down days between? Whatever the case, I am a bit afraid of tomorrow...

This has some great charts, but the data are a decade old, so I will let you peruse if interested.

This really comprehensive study gets into a lot more. Results start on about page 97 [told you it was comprehensive]. That is where I am getting most of the info below:

Most Common Traumatic Events
* Nearly half (49.6%) have had a friends seriously wounded or killed
* 45.2% have seen dead or seriously wounded non-combatants
* 45.0% have witnessed an accident resulting in injury or death

Prevalence (found them!!!)
* PTSD 13.8%
* Major Depression 13.7%
* Traumatic Brain injury 19.5%

All this is more common in National Guard or those who've returned home suggesting difficulty reintegrating, so I also looked up some important info on that:

* Homelessness: 11% of the US Homeless population are veterans
* Unemployment: while the rate isn't worse than the population overall, veterans who have trouble finding work can end up more chronically unemployed because things like PTSD can make a person appear “unstable” and there is a stigma to it.




And as a bonus today, I stumbled across the Warrior Initiative which is an organization to work on this. It has information and a place to donate if that is how you'd like to be involved.

Here is my 22 day plan, for reference.