Stop active duty military suicide H.R. 1463
Suicide accounts for approximately 38,000 deaths each year in the United States. Though the Active Duty personnel and Veterans are only 1% of the population, they account for approximately 20% of all suicides each year in the United States.
Every 9.5 hours aservice member attempts suicide.
Every 29 hours a service member takes their life by suicide.
A Boeing 757 holds approximately 228 passengers. It would take more than 4 Boeing 757 aircrafts to house the number of veterans who attempt suicide each year.
The bodies of Active Duty members who took their life by suicide could fill more than 21 fifteen-passenger vans each year.
The Military Suicide Reduction Act (H.R. 1463) was introduced to the House of Representatives on April 10, 2013. If passed the bill would compel the Secretary of Defense to require face-to-face mental health assessments, every 180 days of deployment, for all individuals in the Armed Forces. If a trained mental health professional were not available to conduct the assessment the Secretary of Defense would be required to ensure that each service member completed an Internet-based questionnaire. In the case that an Internet-based questionnaire was conducted the service member’s Commanding Officer would also have to complete a questionnaire providing information regarding his/her observation about the service member’s mental health. Each of the questionnaires would be assessed by a trained mental health professional and appropriate intervention would be taken if warranted.
The rise in suicide rates in spite of current programs only reiterates how important this bill is for our active duty service members. The stress of combat and the life left behind during deployment is not getting any less stressful. Active duty military personnel need to be made aware of the services that are available to them. By making mental health screening and assessment mandatory for all deployed service members you begin to break down the stigma associated with mental illness and asking for help. Knowing they can freely share their feelings and experience and the information will be kept confidential will also aid in breaking the stigma associated with admitting that they are having problems. Overall, something must be done to lower and eventually eliminate suicide in among active duty military and the current programs are not successful enough. H. R. 1463 is a catalyst for the necessary changes within the military community to decrease the incidence of suicide and address mental health issues.
By signing this petition you are simply ASKING the House Committee on Armed Service: Military Personnel to move the bill through the subcommittee so it can be debated on the floor of the House of Representatives.
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