J
joandarc2008
Guest
Hello,
I am praying for your son, Matthew, as well.
I am also an Army medic in the Reserves who has been overseas.
Couple things.
I am praying for your son, Matthew, as well.
I am also an Army medic in the Reserves who has been overseas.
Couple things.
- Call the chaplain - the chaplain can call him, assess him, notify the commander (CO) and get him to mental health screening.
- DON"T call the company unless you don’t have a good response from the chaplain. The chaplain can handle everything confidentially about where he/she got the information. A call to the company might trigger those “Mommy called the CO” rumors that would just make your son’s life worse.
- If your son is in training i.e. Basic he may not have access to OTC medicaitons. Nor should he really self diagnose or self-treat… This is a bad thing to do. Many of those medications or “supplements” while beneficial for most people can have just the opposite effect on a small portion of the population. If he is having suicidal thoughts he needs to be handled by professionals. They are schooled on how to do it, how do it right, and how do it confindentially.
- If your son does end up leaving the military as an effect of all of this you IMMEDIATELY need to take him to a service organization such as American Legion or Disabled American Veterans. They will know how to file the correct paperwork in order to get your son the correct service connection percentage and follow up care from the VA. Regardless of what the ACTUAL DD 214 or discharge paper says this is not a be all end all for VA findings. VA and military are two seperate systems. However, as someone who volunteered as a service officer for three years doing claims after coming home from Iraq I can tell you that if he does not go to one of these organizations chances are he will very quickly become lost in the system as it can be very confusing to someone whose mind is completely clear and has no stress.
- I wish you and all your family the best of luck. Please remember that we each make our own choices and that you have done everything can for him and now he has to do the rest with His help.