Congressional Approval Expected on Veteran Suicide Bill

by John Michaelson/TNS

AUSTIN, Texas – Veterans in Texas and across the country could gain access to improved mental health services, with expected Congressional passage of legislation aimed at preventing suicide among former service members.

The U.S. House earlier gave unanimous approval to the “Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.”

A vote in the Senate is expected this afternoon, and with 22 U.S. vets taking their lives every day, action is needed now, says Jayce Elliston, diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in the Gulf War.

“It’s a massive problem,” says Elliston. “Twenty-two a day is unconscionable. It’s got to be changed and anything that we can do to make it better, and a review of the systems we have in place is probably a great idea.”

The Clay Hunt SAV Act would require evaluations of all mental health programs and suicide prevention practices at the Veterans Administration and Defense Department to pinpoint the best strategies to improve care and access.

Hunt, the law’s namesake, was a 28-year-old Marine veteran who struggled with PTSD and committed suicide in 2011.

Elliston says an entire generation of veterans is dealing with the lifelong impact of taking the lives of others in war, which has a profound effect on their own mental health.

“Imagine a person that takes another person’s life,” says Elliston. “You deal with emotional issues for the rest of your life trying to quantify and trying to put meaning to what you did and some people have a real, real difficult time coming to terms with that.”

Around 8,000 U.S. veterans take their own lives each year, including about 500 in Texas.