tactile
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Post by tactile on Apr 15, 2022 12:35:01 GMT 10
Sorry in advance for posting this in the forum as it's not really Prepper related, but I notice there are ex-ADF (or current?) members on here and I would like some info directly from members who are in that group or who have close family or friend based knowledge in this area.
If you follow MSM you will hear every now and then that suicide rates of ADF (and of course the US Military and other members who participated in the middle east) personnel is endemic. I don't trust the media here to give a rounded report without political leanings - ie. going after the sitting defense minister or other political appointees involved in the topic.
So what's your experience? Is it a big problem? And it doesn't have to necessarily be suicide - depression, alcoholism, drug addiction? Opinions? Solutions?
Would be great to hear from members with direct experience.
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australia
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Post by australia on Apr 15, 2022 18:57:39 GMT 10
was following a defence suicide support facebook group around 2 years ago , out of interest, they were notifying the group every 4 or so days of another victim , it seemed quite bad and frequent , ended up leaving the group for obvious reasons ,
Every post seem to involve a under 45 yr old , somalia deployments had the most victims I recall
I have no doubt it's a regular occurrence and a major issue
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tactile
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Post by tactile on Apr 16, 2022 6:20:46 GMT 10
was following a defence suicide support facebook group around 2 years ago , out of interest, they were notifying the group every 4 or so days of another victim , it seemed quite bad and frequent , ended up leaving the group for obvious reasons , Every post seem to involve a under 45 yr old , somalia deployments had the most victims I recall I have no doubt it's a regular occurrence and a major issue Thanks for that.
This is what I'm suspecting...why aren't media reporting this sort of info? They only seem to get on the bandwagon when there is an opportunity for political points to be scored.
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australia
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Post by australia on Apr 16, 2022 12:19:59 GMT 10
I have chatted to my media friend a few times about it , Suicide is a 'dirty word' and not often mentioned in media unless it's a celebrity usually,
For a royal commission to happen , they must know its bad .
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Post by Stealth on Apr 16, 2022 16:35:48 GMT 10
Thanks for that.
This is what I'm suspecting...why aren't media reporting this sort of info? They only seem to get on the bandwagon when there is an opportunity for political points to be scored.
There's so SO many factors as to why veteran suicide isn't reported. Family and friends looking for respect and the privacy to grieve. Length of time since the person served (apparently it isn't relevant if it's been more than a year since you got out... rubbish). Whether or not the person served in a combat zone, deployed, or never left the country which apparently changes the 'right' to moral or mental injury or some such dribble. Whether vets are male or female. Even Defence has NO idea how women are at risk of suicide due to service. They don't even have a stab at numbers. Their estimates for deaths in service are super low for men because they haven't really been tracking it until recently. The numbers don't even exist for women who serve, it's of so little import. Hopefully they're tracking it now but I wouldn't hold my breath. If the person has even sought assistance. In the defence (pun intended) of Defence, it's extremely hard to be fully aware of the numbers because if no one even knows the person served and if no one tells them they can't track it. A lot of vets who have mental injury keep quiet about their service because discussing it and acknowledging it without support can make the scenario even harder to deal with. Often times their friends and family know they used to be in but that's it. The counter to that is that Defence should be actively checking on people who've served to offer help. DVA is a sh!tshow. I'll leave that there. So the reality is that it will take decades if not longer for the numbers to be truly and honestly reported. It takes a lot of work and the public would have to pay for it. The public doesn't want to pay for it until it affects someone that they know and love.
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rastus
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Post by rastus on Apr 17, 2022 20:33:02 GMT 10
Not sure how it is these days, but back in the 90's they were not there to help if you had any mental health issue. It was a career killer and their only concern was how quickly they could boot you.
Also the time I spent in 1Mil hospital (knee recon and rehab) showed me the Army was pretty damn weird with physical injuries to. They viewed everyone injured as a malingerer to be punished. We had 2 day spine post-ops getting smoked by PTI's with tire pile relocations, pointless task after task. Everyone doing drill movements on their back (horizontal parade) was the funniest shit I ever saw, especially coming from Club Med (RAAF).
To this day I advise all the nieces and nephews never to go Army. I know they will have been forced to change with all the combat they have seen since, but cultures and attitudes entrenched over generations, only shift after generations.
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