Page 668 - Total War on PTSD

The remainder of this chapter consists of several ideas (and their historical origins) that Rieman and I discussed to assist Veterans and non-Veterans alike in charting a path forward toward ending the Veterans suicide epidemic.
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Currently, stakeholders in the Veterans’ community, talk a lot about the Veterans’ suicide epidemic, and how to prevent Veterans suicides. I believe ‘suicide prevention’ to be somewhat of a misnomer. Yes, we certainly want to avoid any Veteran reaching a point where they feel that suicide is their only option. But, oftentimes, there are many intervening steps that can be taken before a Veteran arrives at this point. Indeed, as noted by David Toombs, the main culprit is often feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, so I feel that keeping the focus on embracing a positive behavior, i.e., “Promoting hope,” is more productive than just focusing on preventing a negative, i.e., “Preventing suicide.” In other words, rather than just being focused solely on suicide prevention, we should be focused on mental health and wellness more broadly. If the focus is on optimal mental health at all times, we can ultimately make more progress than we can by focusing on suicide prevention alone. As the VA itself acknowledges, “[t]o prevent Veteran suicide, we must help reduce Veterans’ risk for suicide before they reach a crisis point and support those Veterans who are in crisis.”
One simple solution, that is rarely discussed by stakeholders in the various conversations about suicide prevention, stems from the old adage that when life becomes difficult, simply slow down, pause, and take a breath. According to Rieman, this is particularly helpful for Veterans who struggle with the stress of transition, as well as combat. “There is a saying that time heals all, and I truly believe that,” Rieman states, reflecting back on his experience, “there are lots of different programs in place
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