Today, Thursday 27, 2012, the Army will stand down worldwide as it conducts suicide prevention training for all of its members worldwide. As a real estate brokerage in San Antonio, we have close ties to the military – they are our clients, our agents, our families, and our friends. In a town like San Antonio, the businesses, civilians, and military personnel have a symbiotic relationship and news of this sort is important to all of us. We applaud the Amry’s efforts to stem the tide of suicides that have afflicted the military (suicide deaths have outpaced combat deaths in 2012). It’s not just PTSD sufferers either – military families faces many stresses that can lead to depression and suicide. The Army’s efforts to prevent this does not go unnoticed and we applaud the men and women who step up when they need help the most and those who give them that help.
With that in mind, we ask all of you to be mindful of your friends, family, and neighbors who serve in the military. If you begin to notice behavior that is unusual, reach out and talk to them – if it goes too far, contact someone who can give professional help to the member. Remember, suicide is preventable and you can help. Sometimes it just takes a friend to lean on, other times it takes much more serious action, but with an eye toward prevention, we can all help.
image courtesy of The U.S. Army