Movie Showing & PTSD and Suicide Awareness Topic Discussion

Why is suicide risk higher in trauma survivors? It may be because of the symptoms of PTSD or it may be due to other mental health problems, like depression. Studies show that suicide risk is higher in persons with PTSD. Some studies link suicide risk in those with PTSD to distressing trauma memories, anger, and poor control of impulses. Further, suicide risk is higher for those with PTSD who have certain styles of coping with stress, such as not expressing feelings.

Research suggests that for Veterans with PTSD, the strongest link to both suicide attempts and thinking about suicide is guilt related to combat. Many Veterans have very disturbing thoughts and extreme guilt about actions taken during times of war. These thoughts can often overwhelm the Veteran and make it hard for him or her to deal with the intense feelings.

“HERE IS BETTER”

A soldier’s story is always personal, but never more than in HERE. IS. BETTER., a documentary film with unprecedented access inside trauma therapy sessions of men and women veterans battling posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The powerful feature-length documentary HERE. IS. BETTER. offers a uniquely hopeful and impactful perspective on the rising mental health crisis in America. Each year, 8 million adults suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the U.S. alone, and veterans are more than twice as likely to have PTSD than civilians. HERE. IS. BETTER. follows four veterans, each with diverse backgrounds and service experience, as they undergo the most clinically effective, evidence-based trauma psychotherapies for PTSD.

The film features Army veteran and former politician Jason Kander, sharing his journey through treatment for the first time. A nationally recognized rising star in the Democratic Party with presidential aspirations, Jason stunningly dropped out of the Kansas City mayoral race by publicly announcing on Facebook that he would be seeking treatment for his PTSD. Jason had buried his PTS for over 10 years since his time as a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan, an increasingly untenable situation that was having a ripple effect on his wife, Diana, and their young family.

Gaining unprecedented access to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the film also documents internationally recognized PTSD expert Dr. Kathleen Chard and her women veterans’ treatment group at the Cincinnati VA’s Trauma Recovery Center. Teresa, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, was still haunted by the day an IED went off by her convoy, nearly killing her husband, and what she could have done differently to alter the course of events that day. Tabitha, a Marine veteran, came to the program to “stay on the planet, above ground” for her two sons. Early in Tabitha’s training, a sexual assault that contributed to her PTSD occurred, deeply impacting her through two tours of duty and back home again.