Veterans Day 2021
Fresno, CA -Battles on the battlefield may be over, but veterans often return home to fight silent battles.
As the community celebrates Central California veterans on Thursday, efforts are underway to support their mental health. Fresno County has several services designed to help our heroes.
“Mental health stigma is a major barrier to people’s access to mental health services and is probably even more prevalent among veterans,” said Ahmad Barrami of the Fresno County Department of Mental Health.
Bahrami said there was a silver endorsement of the COVID-19 pandemic. More people are focusing on mental health.
Currently, her agency is focused on informing veterans and their families that it is okay to ask for help.
“They have no problems,” he said. “They have experienced something unusual and are just trying to deal with it as much as they can.”
Meanwhile, at the Fresno VA Medical Center, an experienced and qualified physician, Derrick Brown, is working on the suicide of a veteran.
He is currently the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Department of Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Program.
According to Brown, he plans to assess available resources outside of the VA, identify local service members and their families, and connect them with the service.
According to a recent survey by the Department of Veterans Affairs, of the 17 Veterans who die daily by suicide, 9 have never been cared for by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Brown said the top priority was to support the transition of care.
“Intervention during the transition from one level of care to the next is more likely to reduce the risk of suicidal tendencies,” he said.
Talks about veterans’ mental health continue in Fresno County.
November 15, brown Virtual Veterans Roundtable, Sponsored by the Department of Behavioral Health.