Veterans charity groups strive to fight increasing suicide rate

Several veterans charity groups in Central Florida are spreading awareness of their services following a troubling VA report on veteran suicides.

Last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs released a report showing at least 60,000 veterans committed suicide between 2008 and 2017.

In 2017, more than 6,100 veterans died by suicide, and increase of two percent over 2017 and six percent since 2008.

K9 Partners for Patriots

“When I came back from those [Iraq] deployments, something was off but I couldn’t place my hand on it,” said Ron Flaville.

Ron Flaville is the new CEO of a veterans charity group called K9 Partners for Patriots which is based in Brooksville, Florida. He spent 17 years in the military (Marine Corps and Army) and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2009. He was diagnosed with PTSD while in service, but he says it got worse when he got out and moved to Central Florida with his wife.

“I started isolating really bad,” Flaville said. “I was suffering with bits of depression, anxiety and outbursts of rage.”

Flaville said his wife pushed him to get a dog, and later to begin training her to be his service animal. The two met Mary Peter who was then a dog trainer and would later go on to start K9 Partners for Patriots.

Flaville said he went from a reclusive life and a troubled marriage to being a dog trainer. He said it became the mission and challenge he needed.

“Over the years I’ve developed better coping mechanisms, and having Sophia is what has allowed me to be able to do that.”

Flaville said he’s noticed a “180 degree change” in the veterans who go through their program, which involves instructing veterans in how to train their dogs to become service animals. Flaville himself went from taking 14 medications to now four.

How do the dogs help? If a veterans is having a nightmare during their sleep, their trained dog will come over to lick or paw them to wake them up, which is safer than having a person wake them up.

If a veteran is having an anxiety attack or an episode of rage, the dogs try to turn the focus to them.

But a service animal may not be for every veteran.

Camaraderie Foundation

Orlando-based veterans charity Camaraderie Foundation provides mental health counseling for veterans suffering from PTSD or TBI.

“Different types of therapies that are accepted and approved by our medical-advisory council,” said CEO Nef Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said Camaraderie Foundation has an 87 percent success rate.

“We got EMDR as one, accelerated resolution therapy is another, and we have cognitive behavioral therapies.”

Both Rodriguez and Flaville said their programs have helped veterans get off of prescription medications that weren’t working for them.

Flaville urges veterans who are struggling to not lose hope.

“I know it’s easy to get caught up in the depression and thinking that nothing will ever go right. I am here to tell you a hundred percent that it can. Do not give up.”

There are many other veterans charity groups in Florida, such as 22 Project, aiming to provide alternative therapies for veterans who are suffering.