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- Oct 19, 2014
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For me it was 2 friends I was working with. It would be much worse if it was immediate family.I'm so sorry about your friends' suicides. It's hell on the survivors.
The one friend I actually went over to see how he was doing the evening he first tried to kill himself. I was only 21 and while I was well trained by the Army to take care of wounds I had no training in dealing with depression or recognizing the warning signs of suicide. He was going through a divorce with kids and drinking way too much. When I left he had passed out on the couch. Later that night he turned on the gas and blew his apartment up. He survived. After getting out of the hospital he got his gun and killed himself. The problem was he was too far along into his depression and drinking too much as well. I think mental health is just like cancer or heart disease. It may be hereditary. I don't know. I think it needs to be addressed early just like any disease if you want positive results.
I think we should get a mental evaluation on a regular basis just like we do a physical evaluation. We might even solve most of these shooting as well by addressing the real problem. It is not the gun but clearly the person. Some take their own life while others take others with them. Either way we need to address mental health as a part of health care.