TAMPA, Fla. — After experiencing the violence of combat in war, many veterans suffer from PTSD. That can eventually lead to suicide.
Seventeen veterans die by suicide every day, and the military suicide rate is one and a half times higher than any civilian.
According to the VA in Florida, almost 500 veterans took their own lives in 2020 alone.
“Florida has an above average number of veterans dying by suicide if you look nationally,” explained Mike Hudson, a retired Marine Colonel. “So, the question to the state of Florida, where 1.8 million veterans—which is what the VA says currently reside there—how do you know which of the top 10% you should be talking to today? That's the problem we're solving.”
Besides being a former Marine, Hudson is the vice president of ClearForce, a people risk management company. They use an AI model to identify mental health risks among veterans based on warning signs.
“We're basically helping organizations that use our technology, that support veterans—we allow them to better outreach in time,” said Hudson.
Red flags in at-risk veterans include evidence of alcohol or substance abuse, engaging with law enforcement or getting arrested.
“Then you start to see court activity, which might not have anything to do with the arrest, could be something as much as their car is being repossessed, or they're struggling in other capacities. And then you can think about ideas like relationship issues, and then you can see them starting to pull back. So, a lack of connectedness,” explained Hudson.
Hudson added that, up until now, it’s always been up to the veteran to find the help they need.
“The veteran has to do two critical things today. Self-assess: I need help. And then to go get it. We're saying that the model we've been doing for the last several decades is sub-optimized. Good, what could be better? Let's flip that,” said Hudson.
That change is using an AI system to remove the burden from being solely on the veteran and utilizing real data tied to science, which is then passed to state or national organizations.
Those organizations include the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Veterans Administration (VA), and the Department of Defense (DOD).
“We're picking up on those risk signals, and we're allowing the organization that we're supporting to have a better-informed idea of who in their population is struggling, so they have an outreach just in time before it becomes an issue,” said Hudson.
Hudson believes reaching out to at-risk veterans early on can prevent a suicide attempt later.
“One of the best coping mechanisms, one of the best things that we can do to help veterans, is this idea of staying connected,” explained Hudson.
For more information on how ClearForce is helping veterans and their mental health, click here: https://www.clearforce.com/suicide-prevention
To those veterans in crisis or to anyone concerned about a veteran, there is support available by dialing 988 and then pressing 1.
You can connect through the veteran’s crisis line by texting 838-255.
