NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY BAHRAIN (Sept. 30, 2019) AFN Bahrain recognizes suicide prevention month onboard Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain. NSA Bahrain enables the forward operations and responsiveness of U.S. and allied forces in support of Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central’s mission to provide services to the fleet, warfighter and family. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christopher M. O’Grady/Released)
Transcript
It is the ultimate symptom of depression. It is the desperation and the pain, what you’re experiencing. The impact of suicide is beyond what you can even explain. I had a friend in high school who committed suicide and I still feel that to this day. The pain never goes away. You learn to tuck it away but it’s still there. You still experience it.
I’ve had a very close friend, actually my mentor a few years back, he took his own life and the impact is kind of a devastating type of thing for people that are left behind. The pain is great and it lasts for I would imagine a lifetime because it’s been a number of years since my mentor passed away and it still impacts me every day.
Cost of suicide far reaching. Of course, we’ve lost a person and that is irreplaceable. We can’t put a price tag or anything on that but also there is the loss of family, the loss of friendship, sometimes there are children that are left behind. They’re huge losses as it relates to just the connections that the person had with other people. I think specifically being in the military, there’s a fear that if I tell somebody what I’m really thinking then I’m gonna get kicked out. So what I wanna say is that no. I have many, many people that come in and tell me, “Yeah, I’ve thought about it.” That doesn’t necessarily equal even a mental health referral because we’ve talked about, “Okay, what’s going on at that time? What is needed in terms of support?” We talk about how you can choose some other things other than leaving us. So it doesn’t always equal a mental health referral. It doesn’t always equal that there’s an administrative separation. We just wanna make sure you get the help that you need and that we support you in whatever way is needed.