Dr. Carole Myers
Welcome to HealthConnections, the show about people, health, and policy. I'm Dr. Carole Myers. The rate of suicide among veterans in the United States is 1.5 times higher than among the general population. There is no single cause for suicide among veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, other mental health problems may increase suicide risk, but the data is not definitive. Today, I'm joined by Lyle Allen, the Veteran Outreach Program Specialist with the VA's Knoxville Vet Center. We're going to discuss resources available for veterans experiencing problems and their family members affected by their loved ones' mental health problems, thoughts of suicide, or death by suicide. Welcome, Lyle.
Lyle Allen
Hey, thanks for having me.
Would you briefly describe your role at the Knoxville Vet Center?
So, I am the Veteran Outreach Program Specialist. My mission is to engage veterans in our area of operation, which consists of around 22,000 square miles, to make sure that they're aware of the services that we offer, and just to make sure that the families and the veterans know that there's a safe space that they can come to if needing.
What are some of the biggest challenges that veterans face when they're seeking support?
One of the biggest challenges they face is knowing where to turn. A lot of the veterans and service members that I come up to are worried about their careers and how this is going to affect their career or family members. Which, with the vet center, where it's all confidential counseling. So whatever said between us stays between us, and it keeps even with the active duty service members. It's not part of that military medical record jacket, so it's separate. So, there's that confidentiality. So, the command stays out of it unless somebody is suicidal or homicidal. Then we have an obligation to report those things. But anything else remains between us.
Are there other challenges that veterans face when they're seeking support services?
There is a lot of it has to do with transportation, like a lot of the veterans that we do with the homeless population. They might not have easy access to a vet center, so we do offer different means for counseling services, either video, face-to-face, telephonic.
Could you broadly describe the services that are available through your office?
So, we offer a variety of services. Some of those services include individual counseling, focused, you know, with the eligibility if it's combat exposure, military sexual trauma, bereavement for Gold Star families. We also do group counseling. So at our center, we do have a coed combat group. We have a MST coed group for military sexual trauma, and then we have a couple, a few of the others. We also do non-traditional style groups. We have a guitarist for veterans group at our vet center, where the veterans will work with an instructor to learn how to play guitar to help as a coping mechanism.
How can family members support a veteran who may be struggling or seek support from themselves?
So, with family members, they're the ones that usually identify and notice a change in the veteran before the veteran even does. So, with that being said, if they notice that the veterans sleep deprived, they're become more agitated, angry, showing other different signs. But if we get the veteran into our records, we can provide counseling services for the families as well.
This is Dr. Carole Myers joined today by Lyle Allen of the Knoxville Vet Center, thank you for listening to HealthConnections. All past episodes are available at WUOT.org for on-demand listening. And listeners, your questions and comments are always welcome.
