Robins proactive in hopes of preventing suicides

Robins Air Force Base health experts say the key to successful suicide prevention is to help the person long before their issues send them down a violent path.

“We look for relationship troubles, financial troubles — and both those tend to go together — as areas of concern when dealing with suicide and other mental health issues,” said Chaplain Keith Dobbe, with the 116th Air Control Wing, based at Robins. “My job, as a chaplain, is to listen and find the proper resources for my people.”

Base-wide for the 22,000 people who work at Robins, those resources are varied, and they can range from simple counseling to mental health referrals for professional services in the Middle Georgia area, said Col. Lynn Herman, chief medical officer for the 2,600-member 116th. There is no mental health clinic set aside for just the 116th, and the unit relies on the 78th Air Base Wing for basic mental health care consultations. “There is a trained staff of health care professionals available to consult with the Robins team, “ Herman said.

“From there, those consultations can lead to care elsewhere.”

The discussions are private, with no names recorded, Herman said, or sent to managers or commanders.

Last week the Department of Defense released a report criticizing top-level military commanders for not having a Pentagon-wide approach to mental health care and suicide prevention.

The report commission made strong recommendations that the military establish one task force to improve suicide prevention programs and to share lessons among the branches of the services.

The commission visited Robins in March and cited U.S. Air Force Reserve programs as successful.

The Air Force Reserve Command is headquartered at Robins.

In 2009, 306 military members killed themselves — 46 of those from the U.S. Air Force. Across the United States, the number of suicides is about 33,000, according to the National Institutes of Health. The military-wide suicide rate was 18.4 per 100,000, as included in the Suicide Prevention Task Force Final Report, versus about 13 per 100,000 nationally.

The overall rate of self inflicted deaths in the U.S. Air Force Reserve is slightly lower than across the United States — 11.3 per 100,000 deaths.

“People who join or are in the military generally have better overall health — mental, physical and emotional,” said Lt. Col. David Ubelhor, Air Force Reserve chief mental health consultant to the command surgeon. “Even at that, there is a need for (mental health) services within the military.”

Ubelhor met with the review team, he said, and pointed out what Robins did as a base.

“It’s really a community-wide type program. We all rely on the multiple resources we have here on base and in the community to provide care,” Ubelhor said.

Robins started an intensive outreach program last year after eight suicides in 2008. The “You Matter” campaign has helped to cut the number of suicides in half — from eight to four in 2009. The program relies on providing health information and contact telephone numbers across the base in public areas.

The multiple counseling and family consultant programs have helped, said Air Force Capt. Anthony C. Wilson, a clinical social worker at Robins.

He said the key to success has been involving the leaders from different units and organizations — the senior officers and non-commissioned officers who are in daily in contact with people who may need help.

“These folks are crucial and can assist an individual who may need some help in getting pointed in the right direction to receive the assistance mentioned above,” Wilson said. “In addition, we ask these leaders to routinely address the issue of suicide.”

Wilson said these leaders can often detect problems early.

Help is not always sought, with many feeling it is not needed in the first place. That’s where, in the military, a commander or medical professional can intervene and require treatment. It can affect a career, Dobbe said.

“I can strongly impress upon them that they will receive help, either through my work or through their commander’s office,” Dobbe said. “With active duty that is the case. It can affect their careers, but we want to help a person” before a situation becomes negative.

Ubelhor said, “if a commander has to intervene then it becomes an issue. Names and records could be provided back to that commander about the individual who did not seek help until forced.

“It’s better if they seek it out themselves.”

A successful program has been the wingman approach, Ubelhor said, which promotes taking co-workers or friends aside and encouraging them to seek help.

Even with confidentiality, Ubelhor said, stigma and fear of seeking help exists.

“Stigma issues have been there for years. We can reduce it, but we won’t eliminate it,” Ubelhor said. “That’s society, but people do seek our help in growing numbers every year.”

To contact writer Shelby G. Spires, call 744-4494.