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HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Nawfside Outlaw raps about post traumatic stress disorder, referred to commonly as PTSD. He knows a little bit about the subject. His real name is Vince Bryant, formerly Sgt. Bryant of the United States Marine Corps, who completed two tours in Iraq. The music is how he pushes back against the darkness.
"Prior to having therapy, I wouldn't talk to you," said Bryant. "Thanks, now that I have the recovery tools, I'm able to open up and talk about my story." He was able to take advantage of therapy sessions at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center.
Bryant now reaches out to other military veterans in need, especially one contemplating suicide.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the suicide rate among military veterans has increased by 35 percent. It's 22 percent greater than the rate among civilians. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been adapting to meet the need, including an on-campus call center that follows up on hotline calls from suicidal veterans or their families.
"There's probably not a metric to measure how busy we are, but that's good because that means people are reaching out to us," said Elizabeth Kleeman with LCSW.
Reaching out in droves. Almost 40,000 military veterans reached out for mental health services in 2017. Not all are suicide cases but far too many are.
Director Dr. Laura Marsh says the demand is so high that the VA in Houston has constructed a new building and is hiring 85 new mental health clinicians to staff it when it opens during the summer of 2018. She describes the veteran suicide problem as a crisis.
"It's a crisis that has been going on for some time," says Dr. Marsh.
"What we're doing now is paying attention to it, which is a good thing," added D
And as Nawfside Outlaw will tell you on video or in person, getting help is indeed a good thing.