Inhofe Raises Awareness Amongst Soldiers In Need

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), today expressed his concerns over the continued high rates of suicide deaths and attempts amongst United States Armed Services personnel. During the hearing, SASC Chairman U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both praised Inhofe's efforts to bring the issue to the forefront of the congressional agenda.

"This is a critical issue for our military and the nation," said Inhofe. "Continued reporting in the media and recently released Department of Defense and Veteran's Affairs data on suicide rates of our active duty, Guard, Reserve, Veterans and military family members indicate that our current policies and procedures may not be effective. I have been working with both chambers across party lines, to include Representative Bill Pascrell from New Jersey and Representative Tom Cole from Oklahoma, to both raise awareness and ensure we have an understanding of how to diagnose and treat these wounds of war."

Inhofe continued, "The cause or causes remains unclear although the Department of Defense has taken tremendous steps to combat this problem. We have been able to determine that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), along with substance abuse, depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders, create the conditions for suicide. We also know that there is a connection between excessive medication and the use of generic drugs and the increase in the number of suicides and other psychological problems. I am happy to hear that the Services are taking an all encompassing approach to this problem but would push them to consider the use of medical advancements such as hyperbaric oxygen treatment, neurocognitive assessment tools and advanced medications. I remain concerned that the confusion over the validity of a neurocognitive assessment post deployment is detracting from our ability to properly treat our wounded warriors. This needs to be worked out immediately -- expert advice continues to emphasis that an automated neurocognitive assessment metric (ANAM) is highly effective when the post deployment assessment is compared with a baseline pre -- deployment assessment."

Senator Inhofe, as a leading member of the SASC, will continue to push for continued Congressional effort in this fight to include expanding its focus to the military families who are also suffering from depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders that have created the conditions for suicide. It is his intent to request additional hearings that will bring in front of the Committee medical professionals from the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, drug manufacturers, civilian mental health care professionals, US military service members and veterans who suffered from suicidal tendencies, PTSD and TBI.

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