Four Navy sailors appear to have died by suicide over the course
of less than a month in the same Navy command in Norfolk, Virginia.
This is the second time in a year that the Navy has been confronted
with a rash of suicide deaths. It launched an investigation this
past spring after three sailors on the crew of the USS Washington
died within one week of each other.
Kayla Restivo joins us Now she co founded the nonprofit Trails of
Purpose, which provides free mental health treatment to service members.
And Kayla. You were among those brought into that naval command in
Norfolk to help the sailors there. What were you hearing from service
members? We were brought in as an external resource to the Navy and
The abundant amount of hopelessness that was exhibited at that command.
And just in the ways that I was able to speak with the sailors directly,
um you know, it was very apparent to myself and my clinical team
that hopelessness and exhaustion and the sense of
Purposeless nest was just you know, rampant throughout the sailors
at that command is the Navy's leadership. Is the leadership at that
command station, are they? How are they responding to this external
resource, But as of now, from the inside sailors that I've spoken
with, they have brought in, um chaplains, and they have brought in
professional mental health counselors to be on site there. I believe,
five days a week now and while they are making strides to do that,
and I commend that effort
Assume much of the hopelessness has been breeding. Um, within that
work environment for such a long time, and so, you know, a couple
of weeks of mental health professionals being on site or, you know,
having chaplains. There may not fix the issue. Um all that quickly
and so we still need to be on alert of
What can we do That is going to be a long term solution. How can
we change this? That's going to make sure that we don't have another
rash of suicides to your point about the sense of hopelessness. Looking
at the data. The number of sailors who deserted the Navy more than
doubled from 2019 to 2021, while desertions and other military branches
dropped or stayed flat.
And there are advocates who say that the Navy's nearly unbreakable
contracts which can require up to six years of active duty, that
that leaves some sailors feeling trapped. Did you pick that up in
any of your conversations?
I would say yeah, The feeling of being trapped or stuck is absolutely
there within the Navy. Um, when I speak to sailors, and for example,
I spoke with them. Maybe just about an hour ago. Today. I spoke with
one who is leaving the military on Tuesday. Um, And you know when
I said, Oh, good for you, and I was like, Well, I'm sorry. I take
that back. Maybe it's not good for you. Maybe you don't want to be
leaving the Navy because sometimes people are typically
Asked to leave the Navy if they're younger because they have medical
concerns or performance concerns, or they've gotten in some type
of trouble that requires them to be leaving the military. However,
the overwhelming response that I'm finding from sailors in the Navy
that are leaving the Navy earlier than they expected their like,
No, it's a good thing. I want to get out of the Navy. I want to get
the heck out of there.
Um, And so that's a surprising thing to hear when people have. Maybe
those sailors signed up four years ago to serve their country, and
they were passionate about it, and they wanted that purpose and and
then to hear, maybe on the flip side, how quickly their minds were
changed now, I can't speak to the reason for that for every sailor,
but I think that that's absolutely something that we need to be focusing
on. We need to ask our policymakers what's going on. Let's dig in
here. Let's figure out what the retention rates are, Um
Why they're taking such a plummet within United States. Maybe it's
interesting, you know, in speaking with Pentagon officials in advance
of speaking with you, the thing I heard was that you know, the military
has changed many of its policies in recent years to encourage better
mental health or certainly greater awareness.
But from where you sit, what barriers remain? Absolutely, And I would
say as a nation we're doing better at recognizing mental health care,
and the Navy also is doing so. And so here's the thing. The Navy
is there to do the defense of the United States of America. It is
not to be a mental health care facility. Um and so they're putting
into place these resources which are available.
Um, Additionally, I would say that the staffing is way below what
it needs to be. And so while we have these resources, there are wait
times for 3 to 6 months, and in that time what's going to happen
to somebody who needed mental health care immediately, so the staffing
the stigmas and the fear of retaliation? These are just a few of
probably the dozens that we could identify as barriers to mental
health care within the military.
Kayla Restivo is co founder of the nonprofit Trails of Purpose, which
provides mental health resources to service members. Kayla thanks
for your time.