Suicidal vets find lifeline on social Web sites

[douglas9]

It was 4 a.m. on a weekday when the first person posted a suicidal threat on the Department of Veterans Affairs' Facebook page.

By the time VA director of new media Brandon Friedman woke up at 6 a.m., he already had several e-mails in his inbox alerting him to the note posted by a distraught veteran. Friedman hadn't even showered yet.

"It was like a deer in the headlights moment," said Friedman, an Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who had been hired to promote VA services on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

The possibility that a veteran might use one of the social media sites to express intention for self-harm had never occurred to Friedman.

"We were not in good shape in terms of preparing for something like that, so it was a huge lesson for us," he said of the incident in April. "We handled it. Everything turned out OK. ... I was determined not to have somebody end their own life on my watch."

Now his staff monitors Facebook around the clock, and Friedman has VA's director of suicide prevention on speed dial. If a veteran expresses suicidal thoughts in a post or comment, a trained counselor will reach out and contact that veteran directly.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7312787.html

[nenagh]

1. Great post, thank you

[Celtic Raven]

2. K&R

This needs more attention.

Thanks for posting it.

:thumbsup: