Four-year effort to stem veteran suicide reaches Governor Parson's desk

      An effort to decrease the incidence of suicide in Missouri especially among veterans, one that has long been a top priority for one House member, is at last on the governor’s desk.

      The legislature approved two bills containing Jefferson City Representative Dave Griffith’s (R) plan, one he has proposed for four years.  If signed by Governor Mike Parson (R), it requires the Missouri Veterans Commission to come up with recommendations on how veteran suicide can be prevented; and to report annually on new recommendations and on the implementation and effectiveness of state efforts. 

      The standalone version of his bill never received a “no” vote at any step of this year’s legislative process.

      In Missouri suicide occurs among the veteran population nearly twice as often as in the rest of the population. Griffith said this effort is all about reducing that rate, ideally to nothing.

      “We’re talking about reducing the number of men and women that are killing themselves because of issues they had when they were in the service. To take it even one step further is to be able to go back to when they were in the service and when they came back from the combat zone. When they came back from Afghanistan or came back from Iraq, came back from Somalia or wherever they were, to have an after action sit down with them and say, ‘What happened with you. What did you see, what did you smell, what did you experience while you were there and how’s that impacting you?’ 

      “It takes a while and it takes a relationship with somebody to be able to really get to the core answer that you’re looking for, but that’s where it’s got to begin.  It’s got to begin freshly after they come back.”

An already personal quest becomes more personal     

Griffith, a U.S. Army veteran, has made veterans’ issues his top priority throughout his time in the House.  In dealing with this issue, he has talked to people who have survived suicide and to families of those who have died by suicide.  Then last year, one of his close friends died by suicide. 

      Ever since, he has kept on his Capitol office desk the last letter that friend sent him.   

      Griffith told this House Communications staffer, “When it happens to [someone you know], you look through a different lens than you ever have before. Somebody you knew, somebody you sat as close as we’re sitting today and talking and had a conversation with, you shared a beer over it and you’re talking about your time in the service or what you did, and then two weeks later they take their own life, and you’re sitting there thinking, ‘I didn’t have a clue.’”

The functional effect of the legislation

      A chief function of Griffith’s legislation is to make sure that the data that is gathered about veterans’ suicide, of which there is a great deal, is compiled and made available to those concerned with the issue. 

      “We have hearings and we have meetings and we collect data and we collect information, but where does it go? What do we do with it?”  Griffith said. “That next step needs to be taken where we’re getting information out to the American Legion, the VFW, the Marine Corps League, the DAV, we’re getting information out to those organizations where they can start helping those veterans.”

      He wants to ensure that that information is being utilized as effectively as possible to improve efforts including outreach, treatment and even identifying those at risk of suicidal ideation.

      “There’s some things you can look at. Your MOS, your military operating service, what you did; how many times you were deployed; where were you deployed; how many times were you in combat; how many times did you receive fire, you felt your life was in danger; where are you from; how old are you?  I think there’s some data that … these are things that we need to look for,” Griffith said.  “We also need to take into consideration that somebody [who takes their own life] may not have ever been in combat. They may have just been in-theater … just in the surroundings of it, just being in a place where you hear bombs going off, when your building is shook by incoming mortars.”

      Griffith is pleased to note that the Veterans Commission has already started implementing some of what the bill requires.   

The goal: To help all who need it

      Even though the focus of his bill is on veteran suicide, his concern is for suicide and related mental health issues throughout the population.

      “When I began this journey four years ago … my hope was, is, that this would be a springboard to conversations outside the veteran community, outside the military community, to one that is really in the civilian population as well.”  

      He has talked numerous times in the past four years about tragedies that play out too often. Prominent for him is the story of one child from near his district who died by suicide in recent years.   

      “When you get down to a nine-year-old in Eugene, Missouri, because he’s being bullied in school, we’ve got a crisis on our hands. They’re taking their lives because they feel like that’s the only thing that’s going to end the pain that they’ve got. The more that we can talk about that pain, the more that we can have teachers that are in schools, counselors that are in schools that are with those kids all the time, a teacher that can see change in one of their students from this jovial, happy go lucky kid that comes in that all of a sudden is very reserved and withdrawn and something’s going on, somewhere along the way a conversation needs to happen with that child. Somebody needs to, whether it’s a teacher or a counselor, or if a teacher calls and talks with their parents, I think we all have to own that to a certain extent. 

      “My hope was when I filed this bill, we would begin that conversation in the whole community and not just the veteran community.”

Perspective born of experience

      Asked whether he wishes a similar focus on mental health had been in place when he was in the military, Griffith thought back to his time in the 8th Special Forces Group as a Green Beret. Many of the missions he participated in during his service in Vietnam were classified, and that limited how much he could talk to anyone about what he experienced. 

      “It never really came out as to how did that affect us? What effect did that have on us? It was just really all mission-oriented. At the time, and even now, I understand, because that was what we were there for, was the mission.  But, the after-effects, the human side of it, I think so often were not taken into account,” Griffith said.

      Especially with the Vietnam War, he said, conflicts awaited soldiers when they returned home. 

      “People you went to high school with, even inside your own family. My brother protested against the war in Vietnam, and it hurt me. It hurt me terribly, but being able to vocalize a lot of what was going on internally just was not done. Would [my legislation] have helped?  Maybe.”

      Griffith said he has dealt with his pain by compartmentalizing. 

      “I can put it in a box and I can close that box up. Occasionally that box opens and I can share some of what’s in there, but most of the time that box stays closed. Not all my friends, not all my brothers can do that. Their box is open all the time and they’re living with that every day, and the nightmares they have and the night sweats they have, and the way they live their life is based on something that happened to them many, many, many years ago. Trying to get some answers to a lot of those questions is something that is a never-ending battle but one that we cannot give up on.”

The message this legislation sends

      Aside from the functional effects of his legislation, Griffith said the fact that he proposed it and the fact that it has consistently received unanimous support send a message to veterans. He wants them to know that they are valued.   

      “To the Vietnam veterans I want to say welcome home … you are back home and you are welcome and what you did was not wrong. What you did was in service to your country. For those that experienced trauma in battle, you’ve got to find somebody you can visit with. Somebody you can sit down and talk to. The person you need to sit down and talk to is another veteran.”

      For those who care about veterans and others dealing with mental health, Griffith has heard time and time again from experts that societal stigmas are a large part of what must be overcome. Those struggling are worried about what will happen to them if they seek help.

      “Where the tide is going to start to turn is going to be when we start having open conversations. When we don’t fear that we’re going to lose our jobs, we don’t fear that we’re going to be kicked out of the military, we don’t fear that our family’s going to divorce us and get rid of us because we’re flawed in so many ways that try to cover that up with the mask that we wear, that we’re okay. Once we can take off that mask, once we can unveil what’s beneath the surface and we can start to talk about the issues that really are nagging at us every day and what’s causing us not to sleep.”

      “We’ve all got mental health issues in some way, shape, or form. We’re not perfect, we’re flawed, but being able to open yourself up and be vulnerable, that’s the hardest thing for somebody to do. Especially a lot or men. A lot of men, who consider themselves to be very macho and strong and all that, for them to show their inner vulnerability to someone is just hard to do.”

      Most Missourians likely know someone who is struggling with mental health issues, even if they don’t know it. Griffith hopes that though efforts like this legislation, more people will look into what they can do for themselves or for someone else.   

      “The most important thing that you can do, whether you’re a veteran or whether you’re not, if you encounter someone that is having a crisis or has got suicide ideation, or is feeling that way, the best thing for you to do is not give them advice, but to give them an ear, to sit and listen, and then to tell them, ‘I’m not qualified to really help you through this crisis but I know somebody that is, and I know where you can get that help,’ and if you need to, sit right there with them and dial 988 and put them on the phone.” Those in need of help, dial 988. Veterans, dial 988 then press 1.

      Griffith’s proposal reached the governor’s desk as a standalone bill in House Bill 1495, and as part of Senate Bill 912. The governor can choose to sign either or both bills into law, veto them, or allow them to become law without taking action.  Griffith anticipates he will sign his proposal into law.