Senior Leader Stresses That Seeking Help is ‘Sign of Strength’

By Sarah Heynen, DCoE Strategic Communications

The importance of suicide awareness and prevention is the focus of the annual Department of Defense (DoD)/Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Suicide Prevention Conference. This year’s conference, “All the Way Home: Preventing Suicide Among Service Members and Veterans,” began yesterday in Boston with more than 1,000 active-duty service members, members of the National Guard and Reserve, veterans, military family members, researchers and clinicians from federal and non-federal agencies in attendance.

Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs and TRICARE Management Activity director, opened the conference with a focus on accountability. He stressed that leadership has the responsibility to ensure service members and veterans know how to seek help. “Getting help is what real warriors do,” said Woodson.

During the four-day conference, participants will gather to discuss ideas and learn more about suicide prevention. Sessions will also focus on the vital role of community efforts – ranging from peer-to-peer support groups to clinical interventions – in preventing suicides among service members and veterans.

“Progress will be measured by the leadership at the squad level, in the airmen’s dorm, and down at the deck plates where it will become accepted that seeking help is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness,” Woodson said.

Learn more about the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and VA cosponsored event and download presentations at http://www.dcoe.health.mil/Training/UpcomingConferences.aspx. The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury is Tweeting live updates from the event --follow the conversation online at http://twitter.com/DCoEpage.