WARNING: This article contains mentions of suicide.
Full disclosure: this article was also published on WGLT by the same author.
As part of its annual Veterans Day celebration, Illinois State University hosted a panel discussion Monday, focusing largely on the mental health effects on those serving in the military.
Panel members, who gathered in the Prairie Room at Bone Student Center, included veterans, close family members of veterans, ISU student veterans and ISU faculty who are familiar with military and mental health studies.
Steve Krippel, a professor of military science with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps [ROTC], introduced the panelists and posed questions, many of which focused on veterans’ mental health and suicide rates.
“It is estimated that 22 veterans commit suicide each and every day, or approximately 8,000 ever year,” Krippel said.
ISU Counseling Services staff psychologist Alex Doup, who has researched suicides among veterans over the age of 50, said there often are a series of contributing factors.
“There can be a period or adjustment similar to [what] we see among individuals who are coming out from service and the adjustment to different roles and identities as well, too," Doup said. "With that, I think there’s a number of different stressors that occur throughout different stages throughout the lifespan.”
Jess Ray, Normal Township supervisor and retired ISU director of veterans and military services, spoke on veteran suicides, focusing specifically on Vietnam veterans.
“One of the things I hear a lot of veterans say is, ‘That thing [help and/or counseling] is there for someone else — they need it more than I do,” Ray said. “The culture, at least in the experience that I’ve had in the military, is that you suck it up, buttercup, and you move on.”
Ray also served as an infantry soldier and sergeant in the Illinois National Guard, noting he's seen veterans struggle to ask for help.
Ray also served as an infantry soldier and sergeant in the Illinois National Guard, noting he's seen veterans struggle to ask for help.
“Back in the day, if you asked for help, that could impact your security clearance or opportunities for promotion,” Ray said. “I think the challenge is getting the information out to people so they know that there are resources out there and then to follow-up to figure out what to do to encourage people to take advantage of those resources.”
ISU professor of psychology Eric Wesselmann offered ways to detect symptoms of mental health issues among veterans.
“Social connection, or on the other side, a sense of isolation — of alienation — seem to be a major predictor for post-traumatic stress symptoms,” said Wesselmann, adding one way civilians can make a difference is by acknowledging the sacrifice that veterans have made to establish a sense of connection.
Ray expressed appreciation for those in the Bloomington-Normal community who have made a difference.
“We have people attending who really do try to make a difference in the community,” Ray said. “They let us know, those of us who have served, even if they don’t understand it, that we’re actually cared about.
Former Lt. Col. Eric Murray from the Gold Star Mission shared how Gold Star families would like to talk about their fallen loved ones.
“Asking the simple question, ‘Just tell me a funny story about them,’ because that’s what they want to do is share how they lived,” Murray said. “That’s the best way of capturing their character."
