Thursday, February 9, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Suicide by Cop – The Ultimate “Trap”
Article published in the July/August, 2001 issue of the FBI National Academy Associates Magazine, Volume 3, No. 4
Suicidal individuals, in their desperation to escape their emotional pain, will use a variety of instruments such as guns, ropes, pills, knives, etc… to fulfill their suicidal wish. In some cases, the "instrument" is an unsuspecting law enforcement officer.
According to recent studies, police-assisted suicide or "suicide by cop" occurs in 10-15% of officer-involved shootings. Studies by Dr. Karl Harris, former Deputy Medical Examiner of Los Angeles County, Richard Brian Parent of Simon Fraser University and Dr. H. Range Huston of Harvard University School of Medicine show similar results.
Click on link to read the entire article ~~
Suicide Rate Linked to High Unemployment
A new study finds a strong relationship between a nation’s unemployment rate and the percentage of its citizens who take their own lives. But surprisingly, the link can be either positive or negative, depending upon the wealth of the individual country.
http://www.miller-mccune.com/blogs/news-blog/suicide-rate-linked-to-high-unemployment-3688/Thursday, January 26, 2012
A QUIET INJURY: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Most people have heard of PTSD. This is a common response to an event like being in a battle in Iraq, being shot by a criminal, being raped or surviving a serious car accident. For many people these types of events begin an extended period of pain and require a lot of recovery. PTSD can take months, years or decades to subside and can lead to innumerable of problems with relationships, careers, marriages, alcohol abuse and life.
What many people do not know is that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial basically evolved due to PTSD. I was in Vietnam as a teen ager with the Army. I saw some combat and tragic deaths there from accidents , including an explosion in 1970 that killed a dozen of my fellow soldiers who were unloading a truck filled with ammunition. I was troubled by many memories of my year there.
After the military I went to college and began to investigate what was then not quite accepted as a disorder. I did some research independently and testified before the Senate on the subject in 1977. My research found elevated rates of divorce and other signs of mal adjustment among veterans with heavy exposure to combat. I wrote an article on the subject for the Washington Post and a journal known as Military Medicine.
The House and Senate ultimately developed the Vet Centers to reach out to veterans struggling with psychological injuries. Veterans of Vietnam were the primary users. Yet veterans of World War II and Korea also took part. Today the Vet Centers are helping vets especially from Iraq and Afghanistan
I had an interesting idea – suppose there was a memorial on the Mall in Washington DC engraved with the names of those who perished in the Vietnam War? Would this help those suffering from PTSD? Would the survivors guilt felt by many be helped by seeing the names honored there?
In 1979 the idea became more than that. I took two weeks off of work and developed the idea working day and night . I came upon some thoughts from college- writings of Carl Jung, a student of Sigmund Freud. Jung theorized that Collective Psychological States exist among communities, schools and nations. My theory developed further. There were profound societal impacts from that divisive era.
Just as the veterans needed healing, so too did the nation. The Memorial, I hoped, would do something to help both.
I began the effort in 1979. I will spare you from reading a long and boring story of how the Wall got completed in only three years. Many people helped. But this Blog is about PTSD. PTSD usually begins by observing or being a victim of violence. PTSD occurs when certain symptoms, such as reliving the event, loss of sleep, hyper-vigiliance, last for over a month. Soldiers, journalists, police officers and convenience store clerks are among those who come into contact with traumatic events. Yet this can happen to anyone. I know someone who had to defend himself and mortally wounded , legally I should add, his attacker. Most people do not recover from this sort of thing quickly. These types of events come out of nowhere and can many times take a toll on our lives. Think about the students who survived the carnage of Virginia Tech. All were experiencing a normal day of college when a mad man brought about chaos.
Many thousands of soldiers are now returning who have witnessed graphic and bloody scenes with civilians and/ or US soldiers killed by terrorist bombs or other causes. Many have taken lives in combat and struggle with the memories. War is gruesome. Experiencing horrific scenes leaves an indelible mark on the psyche. Some are debilitated by the trauma that did not have the same impact on other soldiers who saw the same thing. The science of the mind is not as scientific as we might like it to be. There is much that those in the area need to know about the causes. Yet there is plenty known about ways to aid recovery.
Veterans of Vietnam and, more recently, Iraq, have taken their own lives from events flowing from PTSD. And many of these people could have been saved by seeking help.
Whatever the causes, there is good treatment available from civilian and government mental health professionals. Some of the best research done on PTSD is by the National Institute for Mental Health. I like this poem by Veterans Administration psychiatrist Mary Rorro. She treats many veterans with PTSD. She also encourages them to do what she does. Mary enjoys playing musical instruments.
Clean Slate
Years not long a story untold all that remains is a name etched in stone
My fallen brother you answered the call
If only I could erase your name from this wall
Written by c. Mary C. Rorro
November 2010
To learn more about the Education Center at The Wall and to help us build it, go to: http://www.buildthecenter.org/
By Jan Craig Scruggs, M. Ed and Esq.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Occupy - Do something with your life.
Occupy - Do something with your life....... watch the video and read the words..... for they are reflections of what life is, what it can be if you take the time out of your busy schedule to enjoy those things you enjoy and the persons you love... I got this video from someone on facebook and I don't know the owner but just in case I infringed on their copyrights. I apologize and hope that the spirit it is shown is the same spirit that was intended for all of us to be happy and content with what we have accomplished, where we have been and where we are going!!!!!!!
Glory Hell Part 2
Living in one of the richest lands on this Earth, we take for granted our wealth and wellness and are often tempted to separate ourselves from the poor and despaired. It appears the rich are uplifted above those seeking hope and aspiring better things in life. Looking down upon their bad eminence of life, they flaunt their success and untaught greed to those working the labors of the land and making ends meet with sweat and toil and sometimes even blood. The poor, proud but unable to reach the stars in the sky appear to be lost in the darkness. Evading the crime and the pain of the treacherous Earth, they use their proud imaginations to reach beyond their economical and social boundaries to grasp upon the straws of hope and triumph to attain a better social life for themselves as well as their family.
Satan, sitting high on the throne of evildoers with immortal vigor in wealth and exaltation of life in the darkness, invites those who want to be successful to join his legion of dark angels and fight for his cause to overcome the words and principles of God. He is strong and eager to destroy the emotions of hope and quickly attempts to inflict despair or horror to those who resist or refuse his ways. Daily, in his struggle to conquer Heaven, he trusts his demons to do their jobs and thrust themselves out there in society to spread the word of evil and corruption so that each and every person they contact will know the magnificent words of the Devil and seek an alliance with these evildoers to attain the promises they so desperately sought in the name of wealth and power abandoning their own morality.
Fighting this feeling constantly, people on Earth must make a choice between good and evil. They must decline the feelings of envy and covet no one’s possessions or persons and work hard to follow the parables written to protect those faithful to the Lord and willing to include dignity and respect within their parameters of success and higher places. They must condemn the evil promises to be part of the greatest share on Earth and acknowledge that strife and hard work will be needed to attain their success in life. They must know to follow what is good and not evil and expose the Devil’s work and stand against Satan’s aim to conquer both body and souls for his quest of dominance and power while working hard to regain control of the Heavens.
Already claiming Hell as his dominance he will continue to fight the good with an ambitious mind and allow men to covet more and more to satisfy his hunger for greed and power. He will make wars and break up unions of relationships that are harmonious and created on the makings of Earthly possessions and glorious emotions created by love, happiness and faith. Surely, he will not stop until his claim to Heaven is attained and firmly in his grasp with the help of those who are willing to fight and die for his cause. He knows the resistance is futile if he can get a foot inside the door that opens up the path of evilness and corrupt thinking and abandons the parables written for men to follow the words of God and his prophets and angels.
Satan will debate and assure us his way is the best way. His influence will promise success and wealth in both materialistic matters and financial gains. Equal in strength in many ways, he can stand up to the best of the angels as his demons fight the fight to give him Heaven and not care whatever the cost is for such a victory. These wars between angels and demons will surely take a toll. Millions will stand to lose if the good loses the war and the demons take over their spirits. One cannot sit there idle and watch this battle for a spectator’s view for the outcome will surely impact them personally each and every time an angel falls.
Fighting for the Lord should not make one a fugitive of the war or the moral matters at stake here. One must resist the demons and fight them off with every ounce of strength they have to prevent going to the flaming Hell and lose their entrance into Heaven’s gate. Choosing love and compassion over hate and torture, the spirits of this darkness must avoid choosing the evil and fight Hell’s flames and fury with all the vigor and force they may possess. Turning their backs on evil and seeking the good will create a noise that will be heard around the Earth as others will decide and choose which direction to follow their hearts and soul to survive this madness on Earth and this endless war between good and evil.
Whether they live in a darkened den of shame or the glorious halls of light, the struggle will bear many losses and many winners. The internal thunder and lightening will meet this challenge with the good prevailing over the evil and turning our hearts to the Lord and his son, Jesus Christ. Following the word of God, one will sit comfortable among His angels and be free of torment and pain and sorrow forever. The price to pay for suffering a mortal’s life is the ultimate glory of avoiding Hell’s Glory and living among the upright wings of angels in Heaven and facing no foe or evil forever.
The darkened and black smoke and fire is filled with horror and wickedness. Satan’s invention of torment and deception is at its best as he forces men to re-think the quality of life and the wellness of attaining their goals through the good or evil paths designed with strange fire and steep grades to conquer. Men’s fear to fall asleep and follow the devil is real. It is difficult to fight an enemy that can penetrate the mind and seek comfort inside the mind of good persons who will awaken with questions and fears on their minds giving the Devil the satisfaction that he can conquer their spirit if his attack upon them is proper and without adversity of the good and upright thinking related to the parables of the Bible and the words of decency. Inflicting mixed feelings of confusing flight from the light and seeking the comfort of the darkness, he draws men upon a compulsion to do something that will sink their moral to a new low and give them the stamina to continue their plight downward until they reach the pits of Hell down deep inside the Earth.
Therefore, when one awakens each morning and opens up their eyes towards the light, one must know of the evildoer’s determination of destruction and will to destroy what is good and avoid the Devil’s wrath by being a good disciple of the Lord and his followers. They must understand the workings of pain and not dwell on the matter so to sink a lower deeper woe that abandons their ability to climb back into the arms of justice and hope. It is imperative that men control their anger and seek better ways to avoid provoking violence or pain on others. It is said that once you submit your attempts to conquer the spirit of others you will abolish your temptations and expire your wants to covet others wealth and power. You will sustain in life with sufficient happiness and survive the very substance of eternal being with those who have been faithful and divine in their quest for eternal life and happiness. Thus one must behave with grace and be humane to other persons.
Men must be fair persons and provide dignity to others as they would want to be dignified themselves. Treating persons with perpetual love and kindness will result in high exploits and better reasons to exist. Resisting vice and accomplishing nobler deeds will return your heart to a state of persuasions that resists war and the killing of peers as well as opponents in the dark. Standing in front of love and leaving hate behind will open up a whole new world where men can coexist in peace and harmony forever.
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