Speaker 1: Fifty five KERCD talk station, trying to make it a
Speaker 1: happy Wednesday. It is happy because it's listener to lunch Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Were going to be at Weedaman Brewery in Saint Bernard
Speaker 1: if you can make that, but tempered happiness because we
Speaker 1: need to talk about suicide Awareness month. September is suicide
Speaker 1: Awareness Month. And joining me in studio Lisa Listen. She
Speaker 1: is the suicide Prevention coordinator for the since ANYVA And
Speaker 1: on the phone, I guess stuck in traffic, Steve Belso,
Speaker 1: executive director at Clairemont County Veteran Services. Steve, can you
Speaker 1: hear me?
Speaker 2: I can, Bryan, good morning to you, Good.
Speaker 1: Morning, wish you were here, and I'm sorry you're stuck
Speaker 1: in traffic, but we will manage to muddle through. Let's
Speaker 1: start with you, Steve. You spent three years on active duty.
Speaker 1: How is it different for a veteran compared to active duty?
Speaker 1: And one of the things we always point out when
Speaker 1: we're talking about suicide awareness, the veteran community is different
Speaker 1: from the general population. I think a lot of it,
Speaker 1: and you correct me if I'm wrong, because I didn't serve,
Speaker 1: but from what I've learned over the years, it's you
Speaker 1: have that camaraderie, you have that built in team that
Speaker 1: you're working with. You're you're with them in the trenches,
Speaker 1: you're with them day in and day out, you're with
Speaker 1: them doing task. It's a very controlled environment. And to
Speaker 1: leave that and to go out here in the world,
Speaker 1: where you know, think life is different, that in and
Speaker 1: of itself can be extraordinarily stressful. Mike, am I even
Speaker 1: close on that.
Speaker 2: No, you're you're absolutely right. Let me give your listeners
Speaker 2: one correction, not three years, but almost three decades.
Speaker 1: Decades, decades. I got notes in front of me, Stee.
Speaker 1: I apologize, Steve, I know that three decades and.
Speaker 2: It's been three at one point.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's great. You had three years, and then three years,
Speaker 1: three years, and then twenty seven plus more after that.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but you know what it's like. You know
Speaker 1: what my.
Speaker 2: Shoes on so I can count. So let's yes, let's
Speaker 2: let's talk about that. That veteran while on active duty,
Speaker 2: amongst his his brothers and sisters, there is an intrinsic
Speaker 2: relationship again to localized family. You have leadership above, you
Speaker 2: have brothers and sisters to your left and right. There
Speaker 2: is constant observant of one another, a recognition of attitude,
Speaker 2: ways to call one another to task. Hey you're not
Speaker 2: acting the same.
Speaker 1: Are you?
Speaker 2: Okay? Right? There's ways to amplify help by taking it
Speaker 2: up the chain of command. When when Johnny or Sally's
Speaker 2: not acting the same, what was occurring? You know, we
Speaker 2: went from twenty two a day for years a veteran suicide,
Speaker 2: and we're down to somewhere and list it will correct
Speaker 2: me with exact but somewhere around seventeen and a half
Speaker 2: nows we've made some progress. But the unique thing is
Speaker 2: on active duty, eyes are always on one another. It's
Speaker 2: when we leave that unit and come back home, no
Speaker 2: one's looking left and right, no one's looking out for
Speaker 2: John or Janey, and it's easy for them to regress
Speaker 2: back into a corner to become this stoic I guess
Speaker 2: presence dealing with the monster of whatever the stressor was,
Speaker 2: that's building inside of the individual, that's taking over the
Speaker 2: desire to live. And so it's so important that we
Speaker 2: are constantly talking about this though it's a drab subject,
Speaker 2: we have to talk about this that we get veterans
Speaker 2: to help that they need sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1: Well, and there's a proactive role family can take in
Speaker 1: substituting for the team that isn't there anymore that would
Speaker 1: recognize these things. But this also forces the veteran who's
Speaker 1: struggling with this to have to be proactive on their
Speaker 1: own behalf, to seek out the help that they might need.
Speaker 1: And quite often I get the impression they're not quite
Speaker 1: sure where to turn. But they're also you know, strong,
Speaker 1: you know, humble, proud people who may reject the idea
Speaker 1: of getting any assistance to start with, sure, you know.
Speaker 2: And we have to get rid of the tagline that
Speaker 2: even thoughts of suicide is a weakness, and there's the
Speaker 2: vibrado of military members to tell me I'm weak. Is
Speaker 2: a is an attack against my armor. Suicide is against
Speaker 2: the very design of nature and society that we see.
Speaker 2: You cut down a tree, it wants to grow back.
Speaker 2: You cut off a branch. Anyone wants to come out.
Speaker 2: The animal wants to live. That's why I say escaping
Speaker 2: It is intrinsic and even society that people want to live.
Speaker 2: And when the monster inside is growing stronger than your
Speaker 2: desire to live, it's it's a medical issue going on.
Speaker 2: There's something that's not connecting well, that person needs to
Speaker 2: find that release.
Speaker 1: All right, let's pause for a moment. We'll bring back
Speaker 1: Steve Bellsough and of course we'll hear from Lisa Liston,
Speaker 1: who is the suicide prevention coordinator, gets some ideas about
Speaker 1: how we can help and what we can do and
Speaker 1: what to look for like by way of warning signs,
Speaker 1: et cetera. Seven fifty one if you have KCD talk station.
Speaker 1: September is Suicidal Awareness Month, and that's why we're talking
Speaker 1: with Steve Bell's, executive director of Clima County Veteran Services.
Speaker 1: But we're going to pivot over to Lisa Liston, who
Speaker 1: is the suicide prevention coordinator with the cincinnt VA. Lisa,
Speaker 1: it's a pleasure to have you in studio here today.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're able to make it suicide prevention coordinator.
Speaker 1: Let me go directly to the point. How is the
Speaker 1: Cincinnativa involved in helping to prevent veteran suicide? I mean
Speaker 1: identifying it's an issue we talked about with Steve a
Speaker 1: little bit about that, But how do you get in prevention.
Speaker 3: Well, there's a couple of things to realize, and that
Speaker 3: is yes, suicide can be a very glum topic to discuss. However,
Speaker 3: what doesn't get discussed is how we can prevent suicide
Speaker 3: and all of the people who actually recover from suicidal thoughts,
Speaker 3: you can recover from it. There are many things that
Speaker 3: can be done, and the things that we do at
Speaker 3: the VA to prevent suicide would be we give out
Speaker 3: free gunlocks to veterans and families and organizations that would
Speaker 3: like to distribute them. So we want to make sure
Speaker 3: that every person who owns a firearms securely manages those
Speaker 3: firearms because what you have to remember in a time
Speaker 3: of crisis, when a person is suicidal is when they
Speaker 3: might be very impulsive.
Speaker 1: Impulsive, that's the reason, yes.
Speaker 3: Right there, and it's too easy to just pick that
Speaker 3: weapon up and hold it to their head. So we
Speaker 3: want to make sure that they're safely stored stored as
Speaker 3: well as medications. Sometimes people forget about that. We want
Speaker 3: to store medications safely or if they're not being used,
Speaker 3: to get rid of them, because again, it would be
Speaker 3: too easy to pick up a bottle of pills and
Speaker 3: take it in a time of crisis.
Speaker 1: Okay, time of crisis, now, that's what we need to
Speaker 1: know about what are the warning signs of suicide, because
Speaker 1: you know, we might not be thinking that we need
Speaker 1: to lock up the meds or lock up the firearm,
Speaker 1: but what are we looking for in terms of signs.
Speaker 3: So you really want to be noticing when somebody starts
Speaker 3: focusing on death, dying, suicide. They might be writing letters.
Speaker 3: They might be I see this in teenagers.
Speaker 1: Giving their personal property, giving.
Speaker 3: Things away, sending long text about how they're not going
Speaker 3: to be there. This is an interesting one holding unloaded
Speaker 3: gun to their head. Because what you have to know
Speaker 3: is sometimes people participate in what's called habituation, and habituation
Speaker 3: is practicing for the event. So they will sometimes like
Speaker 3: the Golden Gate Bridge people. They have them on video
Speaker 3: where they will walk to the edge of the bridge
Speaker 3: kind of look over, and then walk away, and then
Speaker 3: come back a little bit later, and now they've looking
Speaker 3: up over, pushing themselves up over the edge. Then may
Speaker 3: walk away again, but then the next time, now they've
Speaker 3: got their leg up over the bridge and ready to jump.
Speaker 3: So it's getting used to the thought of actually ending
Speaker 3: your life. So when even when you hear somebody say, oh, well,
Speaker 3: I really wasn't going to do it, but they had
Speaker 3: that gun to their head. First of all, we know
Speaker 3: many people die with supposed unloaded guns. But secondly, they
Speaker 3: could be practicing habituation.
Speaker 1: All right, So what what do you do or say
Speaker 1: to a veteran if they say they actually are having
Speaker 1: thoughts of suicide suicidal ideation, they just outright want to
Speaker 1: kill themselves, right.
Speaker 3: So the first thing you want to do is not
Speaker 3: become so alarmed that you scare the person, like, oh
Speaker 3: my gosh, let's call somebody right now, we're going to
Speaker 3: you know, well, you got to have the police out here.
Speaker 3: What you want to do is offer support and assistance.
Speaker 3: So if it's safe, you could offer, hey, how about
Speaker 3: you and I both go to the er where you
Speaker 3: can t talk to a licensed physician or clinician who
Speaker 3: can help you with those suicidal thoughts. Or you might say, hey,
Speaker 3: how about if I call the veteran's crisis line. I'll
Speaker 3: tell them what's going on, and then the responder will
Speaker 3: talk to the veteran and can help them that way,
Speaker 3: also encouraging them to get treatment. You know, not everybody.
Speaker 3: I'd like to dispel this myth, and that is not
Speaker 3: everyone who has suicidal thoughts automatically gets admitted to the hospital.
Speaker 3: Sometimes we can start them on medication, or we can
Speaker 3: get them into therapy and they'll be okay and we'll
Speaker 3: work with them. Now. Sometimes it's even more severe where
Speaker 3: they really can't keep themselves safe and so we might
Speaker 3: have to have them admitted. But there's several options that
Speaker 3: are available.
Speaker 1: Well, I would think, and you know you're the expert,
Speaker 1: but I would think if someone actually tells you out
Speaker 1: loud that they're having these thoughts, that might be a
Speaker 1: cry for help. They are wanting to get that assistance.
Speaker 1: They're saying it out loud. They're not trying to catch
Speaker 1: somebody off guard, like, Okay, have fun at the movie
Speaker 1: and they come back home and they have committed suicide
Speaker 1: and they say it out loud, and maybe that they're
Speaker 1: looking for your help and finding help, right.
Speaker 3: And you know, sometime times people get caught up into well,
Speaker 3: you know, do they mean it, do they not mean it?
Speaker 3: Are they just saying this because they want attention? And
Speaker 3: I always say, you don't have to make yourself the evaluator.
Speaker 3: We just want you to get them to a place
Speaker 3: someone who is a licensed that could help them and
Speaker 3: figure out what really is going on, So calling the
Speaker 3: Veterans Crisis Line, which you know is the nine eight
Speaker 3: eight Press one.
Speaker 1: That's what I was just gonna ask you today. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really excellent because you don't have to make
Speaker 3: a decision is this serious? Is this not serious? Or
Speaker 3: maybe they're kind of vague, you're not really sure. Again,
Speaker 3: you don't have to be the evaluator. Just get them
Speaker 3: to someone who can talk to them, who will know
Speaker 3: what to do.
Speaker 1: Nine eight eight, Then hit one after the phone picks
Speaker 1: up and you're right there with the Veterans Crisis Line. Well,
Speaker 1: I tell you what, I can't thank you enough for
Speaker 1: Lisa for what you're doing every day to help veterans
Speaker 1: dealing with suicidal ideation families as well. And Steve, of course,
Speaker 1: you know you're always welcome on the Morning show with
Speaker 1: the Claimont Kennedy Vetteran and Services Commission. All the services
Speaker 1: you offer, it's an amazing thing. What you've got in
Speaker 1: Claremont County with the Claremont County Veteran Services it's uh,
Speaker 1: can you give me the website again, Steve for we
Speaker 1: part company for the Clamart County Veteran Services.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, Brian it's www. Claremont County Veterans.
Speaker 1: Dot com Claremont County Veterans dot com for all the
Speaker 1: services they offer, and it is an amazing assortment of services. Veterans.
Speaker 1: You're in all this assistance. Please take advantage of it
Speaker 1: and help yourself out and family members. It's nine eight
Speaker 1: eight and then the number one for the Veterans Crisis Line.
Speaker 1: Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. You may
Speaker 1: save a life. Absolutely, it's been a pleasure having you
Speaker 1: both on. Keep up the great work on behalf of
Speaker 1: the American Veterans. And Steve, thanks again for your three
Speaker 1: decades plus of active duty service. We'll see each other.
Speaker 1: Get real suit, Steve ca thank you, sir. Stick around
Speaker 1: Helen County, plot prosecute a list of powers after the
Speaker 1: top of the hour, News plus Judge to Paultono at
Speaker 1: eight thirty. I'll be right back.