(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/21/2024) An Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention would be established within the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) to help veterans navigate behavioral health challenges like Rep. William Bruck (R-Erie) described in testimony under HB 5276.
Last week, Bruck testified on the bill, recalling a recent radio interview he had done where he was asked what the bill package would do that would have helped him transition out of deployment into civilian life. He remembered surveys and screenings from 2004, returning from his first combat tour in Iraq, which he had left for with only five days of notice. In his exit screenings, his only goal was to get home, and a “yes” to any of the questions would mean staying on deployment longer.
“You say no to everything. At that point, your goal is to get home,” he said. “The day after I got home, I did not know what to do with myself. So, I tore down half my house. I got a front-end loader from a friend of mine and tore down half of our house.”
Bruck described two and a half months of rebuilding their home after tearing down bedrooms and the kitchen. He had a bathroom that the stars in the sky could be seen from.
“I had no idea what was going on with me. I was one of the first returning combat troops since probably Vietnam,” he said.
When he returned to work as a lineman on Telegraph Road, a couple of grade-school aged girls ran across the street, nearly causing an accident. For Bruck, it brought back memories and anxiety, causing him to cry.
"I know I probably don’t look like the crying type, but I did not understand what was going on internally,” he said, adding that he told the radio interviewer that it would have been nice to have “something” when he got back. Bruck said his bill would bridge the gap between military and civilian life, giving a military person the opportunity to find purpose in life again through screening contracted out by the MVAA.
Under Bruck's HB 5280, the Office would oversee a transition program for veterans returning home so that they can adjust to civilian life. The Office would also be able to issue grants to support other efforts, and it would create a mental health resource guide for veterans and service members to understand their mental health under HB 5720.
The Office would collect and pass out information on substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, (TBI) and suicidality, as well as usage of the “buddy-to-buddy” program established under Rep. Felicia Brabec (D-Ann Arbor)’s HB 5279. The program, a one-on-one mentorship and support service for veterans, would be a statewide outreach program partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under HB 5277.
In Rep. Christine Morse (D-Kalamazoo)’s testimony, she said data shows that in 2020, approximately 5.2 million veterans experienced a behavioral health condition and more than half of those did not receive treatment within the first year, and more than 90% of veterans experienced a substance use disorder and did not receive treatment.
