PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE | BY: DAVE MCCORMICK
Seven hours a day. Nineteen days in a row. The military veterans at Aurelius cycle through hyperbaric chambers, transcranial stimulation, and intense physical exercise.
Most were special operators. All suffer from depression and anxiety, headaches, insomnia, or other cognitive disorders caused by traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and post traumatic stress (PTS). Many have contemplated suicide. But at Aurelius, a cutting-edge treatment program at Harrisburg University, they’ve finally found a path out of the darkness.
Sadly, they are outliers. Most veterans in need of care are trapped in a broken bureaucratic system that treats them and their injuries as liabilities.
The way we treat our veterans
You can tell a lot about a country by the way it treats its veterans. Nineteen veterans and service members, on average, still take their lives every single day — and over 140,000 have since 2001.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), nearly 40% of those veterans had no documented mental health or substance abuse issues. They suffered and died in silence.
As a combat veteran, I know firsthand that military service requires sacrifice. But while I have been blessed since my time in uniform, I am haunted by the knowledge that many who sacrificed so much more suffer every day.
America must break the stigma around mental health, encourage veterans to seek the help they need, and embrace new therapies like those offered at Aurelius. Most important, we must remind ourselves that veterans are not victims. They are an enormous untapped resource that can provide additional service and contributions to our country.
This isn’t about money. The VA’s budget has grown by 50% since 2021. It is instead a failure of leadership, imagination, and commitment.
We must respond in three ways.
Three responses
First, we must overcome the cultural stigma and break that silence by urging all men and women leaving military service to go through mandatory mental health screening and to seek help should they need it.
Second, we must create a culture of accountability among the senior military leadership to ensure they are providing the critical suicide prevention resources available to veterans as they transition to civilian life.
Third, we must develop new and alternative therapies. The veterans who go through Aurelius’s program, for example, report a 77% reduction in depression and a 73% reduction in post-traumatic stress. The vast majority say their invisible wounds are healing.
However, treatment facilities and legislation alone won’t end this disgrace. America will not solve the dilemmas facing veterans until leaders across society see them differently and reintegrate them more effectively when their time in service ends.
Like so many other veterans, my time in the military taught me essential leadership skills and how to work with a team. It challenged me, required great sacrifices, and made me who I am today. I wish everyone could have the same opportunity to feel that sense of duty, teamwork, and service. It’s an honor bestowed upon a shrinking slice of America.
Not too long ago, most Americans had either served or had family members who did. Today, vanishingly few can say the same. The vast majority of elites, in particular, have no connection to the military. No wonder those in positions of power have failed to serve our veterans as they have served our country.
Popular culture paints veterans as victims or superheroes. Most are neither. They’re not ticking time bombs nor are they marble-chiseled Captain Americas. They’re human. They may not always know how to write a perfect resume for a civilian job, but they can handle complex machinery, code advanced models, and manage big projects.
Substance of soul
Most are leaders, endowed with what the great Civil War commander Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain called “a firm and seasoned substance of soul.” That is, character. That’s why, as a business leader for almost 25 years, I always made a point to hire veterans wherever possible.
These proven patriots brim with potential and deserve the most innovative support systems we have to offer. They also have so much more to give their country. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can celebrate Veterans Day knowing we’ve done all we could do to give back to those who gave this country their all.
Dave McCormick, a Republican, is a United States senator from Pennsylvania. He is a co-sponsor of two bills introduced into the Senate, one expanding research into traumatic brain injuries and the other establishing an initiative to systematically reduce suicide risk and personalize treatment.