US senators allege cover-up of veteran suicides
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An alleged cover-up of the rising number of U.S. military veteran suicides has led two Democratic senators to demand the resignation of the chief mental health official of the Veterans Affairs Department.
Sens. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Washington state said Tuesday that Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's mental health director, withheld crucial information on the true suicide risk among veterans.
Dr. Katz's irresponsible actions have been a disservice to our veterans, and it is time for him to go, said Murray, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The No. 1 priority of the VA should be caring for our veterans, not covering up the truth.
Akaka, the committee's chairman, said in a letter to the VA that Katz's personal conduct and professional judgment had been called into question by his response to veteran suicides. Veterans, and the VA itself, would be best served by his immediate resignation, Akaka said.
A number of Democratic senators said they were appalled at e-mails showing Katz and other VA officials apparently trying to conceal the number of suicides by veterans. An e-mail message from Katz disclosed this week as part of a lawsuit that went to trial in San Francisco starts with Shh! and claims 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under department treatment.
Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it? the e-mail asks.
Another e-mail said an average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day
VA care when they commit suicide. Statistics provided earlier this year by the VA showed that 790 veterans under VA care attempted suicide in 2007.
A VA spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.
Two veterans groups last year filed the class-action lawsuit against a sprawling VA system that handled a record 838,000 claims last year. A government lawyer on Monday urged a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the agency runs a world class medical care system.
(Agencies)
To do a good job mental health education, mental health education in schools operate more easily, so that teachers and education activities more conducive to maintaining and cultivating a minor psychological health of students, and promote the overall quality of students improved, special explicitly provides as follows:
1, the creation of good psychological counseling rooms, counselling teachers for records, the establishment of good student psychological files.
2, usually seriously organize students to participate in various activities related to psychological education. Including Ting Jiangzuo, class teams, community activities.
3, the harmful to the mental health of students and actions should be eliminated. As a disguised form of corporal punishment and corporal punishment of students, in the wrong occasions, such as the privacy of public students.
4, is not conducive to the mental health of students and actions should be taken to avoid. If the student performance rankings released, teachers and students at the proliferation of students in the wrong, and so on.
5, teachers in education and teaching work, they should be good at using their own words and deeds to promote the healthy development of psychology students.
6, teachers in the education of students, attention should be paid to arrangements for their words and deeds of the order.
(1) The students first thought the following three issues, go to education:
a. Why is he going to education
b. What kind of hope that the consequences
c. What kind of taken the best approach to education
(2) students to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages and psychological characteristics, after education.
(3) to certain strengths and certain progress, pointed out after the shortcomings.
(4) When their bad mood, the first adjustment of our own emotions, and then talk with the students.
(5) When a student emotional instability, the first students of emotional stability, after the educational activities.
7, pay attention to mental health education research, writing papers in time.
8, the results highlight the education of teachers in schools on year-end evaluation and assessment, as appropriate, will be given extra points.
Related: US senators allege cover-up of veteran suicides
Additional information:
From mathaba.net:
In addition, Nebraska received a grant from the Center for Mental Health Services to establish a comprehensive system of care for 22 counties.
Kings View Behavioral Health System provides a variety of services to the community, including mental health, chemical dependency, drug treatment.
Patient and consumer information on depression and mental health conditions, support group listings, publications, and links to related.
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