In the past decade, suicide has become an epidemic plaguing the military and veteran community, with upwards of 20 suicides a day by veterans, service members, Guard Members and Reservists. To play a role in combatting this crisis, Mad in America has launched the Veterans, Service Members & Military Families Initiative, under the editorship of Derek Blumke, to help the community become better educated and to assist service members, veterans and their families to identify alternatives to the dominant drug-based model of mental health. If you have queries about this page please get in touch with Derek.
Editor's Corner

Welcome home to every service member, veteran, family member or supporter who has ever felt not listened to. Welcome home to every person who has felt their prescriber heard only a series of symptoms, and not a person having real responses to real experiences and real challenges. This page is meant to be a place where you can learn more about yourself through the stories of others, and where you can help others, simply by sharing your story.
A person is not defined by the aggregate of their symptoms. Instead a person is a reflection of the communities they are a part of; their openness to see good in humanity; and their hope for all of us to become better through the connectedness to others. Welcome home.
Lindsay Church: Military Mental Health – Journey from the Brink to Recovery
Screening + Drug Treatment = Increase in Veteran Suicides
Abandoned in VA Purgatory — Misdiagnosed, Overprescribed & Fighting for Answers
Veterans Find A Path to Healing Through Shakespeare
Ambushed by Antidepressant Withdrawal: The Escape Story
Antidepressant Use Associated With More Violent Suicide Attempts
From the Archives
Support This Initiative
Get Involved
On Suicide
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion have begun to seek answers as to the role of antidepressant medications in causing suicides of service members, veterans and their families. Check back soon to learn more about what they are working on to save the lives of those within this community.
For more info on suicide and antidepressants, see MIA report on Suicide in the Age of Prozac.
Resources
In-depth reviews of antipsychotics and antidepressants; non-drug therapies for anxiety, depression and PTSD; and withdrawal resources, includes a directory of providers who will support people who want to taper from psychiatric medications. The Parents section provides similar reviews of treatments for children and adolescents.
In addition, you can access our archival reports of findings about psychiatric drugs that have been published in peer-reviewed journals.