October 17, 2024 • 43 mins
We pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and physical life is won, as we follow Christ, who is our Commanding Officer in this field called LIFE. Whether you are here for spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, PTSD, suicide prevention, or want to know the latest military news, we are here to serve you. Website: VeteransInChrist.net Email: VeteransInChrist@Mail.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/VeteransinChrist/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to all who have served, are serving, and will
serve in the Armed services, to the veterans. In Christ
Podcast with your host, doctor and Navy veteran k l Rich,
we pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and
physical life is one as we follow Christ, who is
our commanding officer in this field called life.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Whether you are here for.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, PTSD, suicide prevention, or
want to know the latest military news, we are here
to serve you. Now Here is your host, doctor k
l Rich.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi, and thanks for tuning in today.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Today is so Today is Thursday, October seventeenth of twenty
twenty four. I am your host, doctor and Navy veteran
Ko Rich, and I'm here to serve you all, my
fellow veterans and active do the military, first responders, and
military families.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thanks for tuning in today.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Before we get started today, I want you to please
do me a favor.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Hit that share button.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Share this podcast with someone you know that is a veteran,
someone that is active duty, someone that's the first responder,
or the family of a military serviceman. I pray that
you sharing this will be able to bless someone because
on this podcast we are trying to help one another, and.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
We are veterans in Christ.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
That means that as we serve or are have served,
our service has not stopped. It will not stop until
Jesus returns or until he comes in takes us home
to glory. And whether I mean by that, I mean
taking us to sleep. And so therefore we have a
(01:59):
service today do in the Lord's army, and I pray
that you are being equipped right now for the service
of the Lord, that you are actively doing what God
would have you to do. Rather you're on active duty,
rather your reservist, rather you have already served and hung
(02:19):
up the uniform. You may be a veteran or you
are a family member of either of those groups. We
pray that this podcast will be a blessing to you
as well as your service to the Lord will remain
on active duty. That's right, You're still on active duty
(02:40):
when it comes to God. All right, So today today,
we're talking about a serious topic today and we're gonna
be talking and coming from the Book of Ruth, the
Book of Ruth. There are a lot of you that
may have or at some point experienced depression, that's right, depression.
(03:07):
And we're gonna talk about that when it comes to
military life.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
And just the moment.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
But I want to read to you today from the
Book of Ruth chapter one, and this story tells of
a woman who had a husband, she had two sons,
they had their wives, but she wind up losing mostly
(03:34):
everything that she had, and some biblical scholars would say
that she even went into a little moment of depression,
and that can happen to any of us.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
And someone to just read and.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Ruth chapter one, Ruth chapter one where she loses her
husbands and sons, and it says in the days when
the judge is Ruth, there was a famine in the land.
So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his
wife and two sons, went to live for a while
in the country of Moab. The man's name was Alimelech
(04:13):
and his wife was Naomi, and the names of his
two sons were Milan and Keelan. They were Ephradites from
Bethlehem Judah, and they went to Moab and lived there. Now,
ilamelek Eli's husband died and she was left with her
(04:37):
two sons. They married Moabite women. One named Orpah and
the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
both Milan and Keelan also died, and Naomi was left
without her two sons and her two and her husband.
(04:58):
And I just want to stop right there. So you
see this man Ilamelech and his he had taken his wife,
his family. He had taken his wife and two sons
to Moab from Bethlehem. Why because there was a there
was a famine in the land, and so he was
(05:18):
trying to provide for his family. However, while they were there,
the two sons got married. But for some reason, the
Bible doesn't go into any details much about this. But
the husband died. It could have been from old age
or we don't We just don't know what caused his death.
(05:40):
And then we also see that the two sons died
as well, and.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
We don't know what calls their deaths.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Okay, So you have Naomi losing not only her husband,
but she lose both of her children, and that can
cause it anyone to have a.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Be in a depressed state.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So let's go on to verse six, which often happens
with depression. So let me just go into this and
then we're gonna elaborate a little further. When Naomi heard
in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid
of his people by providing food for them, she and
her daughter in laws prepared to return home from there.
(06:26):
With her two daughter in laws, she left the place
where she had been living and set out on the
road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Then Naomi said to her two daughter in laws, go back,
each of you to your mother's home. May the Lord
show you kindness as you have shown kindness to your
dead husbands and to me. Made the Lord grant that
(06:49):
grant that each of you will find rest in the
home of another husband. Then she kissed them goodbye, and
they wept aloud and said to her, we'll we will
go back.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
With you to your people. Now let me just stop
right there.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
So Naomi planned to go home. She heard that the
land and Bethlehem had returned back. God was blessing them,
and so she decides to go back home to her people.
So where she had once went full with her husband
and two sons, now she's returning and she doesn't have
(07:25):
those that were closest to her, with the exception of
her two daughter in laws. However, she tells.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Them to go back home.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Now. One thing, when you are dealing with depression, which
could have been this case in Naomi's case, sometimes you
want to be in isolation. Those that are depressed, they
sometimes don't want to be around other people, and so
they will push people away in order for them to
(07:54):
be isolated in their depression, which is never is never
a good thing. So in verse eleven, but Naomi said,
return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me?
Am I going to have any more sons who could
become your husband's Return home, my daughters.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I am too.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Old to have another husband, even if I thought there
was still a hope for me. Even if I had
a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would
you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried
for them? No, my daughters, it is more bitter for
me than for you, because the Lord's hand has turned
(08:33):
against me, and I want to just bring up something
right there. Oftentimes we can feel as if when we're
going through things that is God's hand against us, God
has turned his back to us, or God is somewhat
this pleased with us. And so Niomi felt as if
God was against her. She was in this solemn moment
(08:58):
where she did not see that the hand of God
in her life to see. What she didn't know was
God was still operating, even though she had lost her son,
even though her sons, even though she had lost her husband,
God was still in control. And regardless of going through
(09:19):
whatever situation that you may be facing as a veteran,
as an active duty military personnel, if you are reservist,
first responder, whatever situation you may be going through, always
know that God is still in control. And so in
(09:39):
verse fourteen, at this they wept aloud and said, then
allowed again. Then Orpah kissed her mother in law goodbye,
but Ruth clung to her. Look said, Naomi, your sister
in law is going back to her people and her
gods go with her. But Ruth replied, don't urge me
(10:01):
to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go,
I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.
Your people will be my people, and your.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
God my God.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Where you die, I will die, and there I will
be buried. May the Lord deal with me ever so severely,
if even death separates you and me. When Naomi realized
Ruth was determined, to go with her.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
She stopped urging her.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
And this is good. This is friendship right here. Ruth
did not want to leave her mother in law. She
had a special bond with her mother in law and
she did not want to part ways with her mother
in law.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Ruth was leaving all.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
That she knew behind to go be with her mother
in law. And if you know someone that is depressed,
guess what. They need you, They need you. If you
are depressed, guess what. Don't deal with it alone. Talk
to someone, Talk to a friend, talk to a trusted friend,
(11:13):
a counselor. If you have a pastor that you can
talk to, talk to someone. But don't feel as if
you are alone. I want to also take a moment
to tell you, as a veteran, you can call the
one eight hundred number. They will dispatch you to or
(11:38):
or put you to a veteran counselor crisis counselor a
veteran crisis counselor if you're going through depression, suicidal thoughts.
One eight hundred eighty two seven one thousand. That's one
eight hundred eight to seven one zero zero zero. So
(11:58):
Naomi and verse two, let me go back to nineteen.
So the women went on until they came to Bethlehem,
and when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was
stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, can this
be Naomi? Don't call me Naomi? She told them, call
(12:19):
me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
I went away full, but the Lord has brought me
back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted
me and the Almighty has brought misfortune on me. And
so Naomi here, she's showing her emotions right now, she's
(12:43):
showing her grief. She's showing that she has experienced laws
where she don't even want them to call her by
her name. She wants them to call her Mara, meaning
that the Almighty had brought affliction against her. And sometime
you can feel as if God is against you. His
hand is against you when you suffer loss, when you
(13:07):
suffer things that that uh that.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
No ordinary person would normally go through.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
And there are times when God does allow judgments and
things to come. Sometimes we bring them about on ourselves.
But then there's times, as in this case, it wasn't
something that Naomi had done. This was not a punishment
to Naomi, because as you continue to read in the
chapter in the in the Book of Ruth, you will
(13:36):
see where God blessed her tremendously, where she was even
able to nuriseh, the the child that that that Ruth
and bo Ass had when they got married. And so
she was blessed. She was rich, richly, richly blessed. And
even though she may have seemingly encountered a temporary set back,
(14:02):
it was only a set back. Oftentimes, you might find
yourself going through various trials and tribulation, and you think that, oh, well,
this is over. There's no hope, there's no sun in
the sky. But the thing is, regardless of whatever you
(14:23):
think you may be going through in life, know that
you can always turn to God. He is always there.
Jesus is our King of kings, and he's our Lord
of lords. And there is no suffering, no pain, no agony.
That he does not understand why, because Jesus went through
(14:46):
it himself, he too felt separated from God. He too
felt a moment of a separation anxiety from God when
he was on the cross and he said Eli, he
was calling Eli, but he was saying, my God, My God,
why have you forsaken me? And he felt that separation
(15:10):
from God when he was on the cross, he felt
separated from his father. So if Jesus can feel that,
then we too will sometimes feel as if we have
been separated, or we are depressed, or we will go
through things as well. But we can always take comfort
(15:33):
and knowing that there's nothing that we have experienced down
here that Jesus has not gone through and can empathize
with our pain, with our suffering. The Bible lets us
know that we have a high priest that is empathetic
to all that we have gone through, all that we
(15:55):
go through, all that we will go through. But the
thing is is that because He went through it himself,
that He is there to carry us through. You are
not alone, regardless of what thoughts come into your mind.
The enemy loves to make you feel as if you
(16:17):
are alone, but you are not alone. God is always
there And if you are a veteran, you can reach
out to health, to counselors who can help you. If
you're in the military, don't let anyone tell you, oh,
you don't need to talk to someone, Talk to a chaplain,
(16:40):
talk to someone in mental health. If you're able to
talk to a good friend, talk to your pastor talk
to someone, but never feel as if you are alone.
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be
back in just a moment.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
If tomorrow all things were gone. Work for all.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
My life and I had a star again, just my
children and my wife, Thank my lucky stars to be
him and here.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
Because the flag still stands for freedom and they can't.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
Take it away, and about.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
To be an American where he standover Lanfred that I
won't forget.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
The men who died who.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Gave that night to me, and I did stay.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Next to you and the men herself today because there
ain't no doubt of.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
This land got less than.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
From the lates of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee,
across the plains of Texas, from See the Shade See Detroit,
down to Houston.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
In New York. Two the movie.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Was pride into every American heart, and it's time is standing.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Say got a bart to be head American where least
nine over land to get the men who died, who
gave that time to me and my lady say.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
It's to you, and it concurs still today, But it
ain't no doubt I love his love.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
God lest you as.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Kind of pout to killing.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
An American where at least I know, And I go,
who get the men who died? Who gave that fun
to me?
Speaker 5 (19:42):
And I did?
Speaker 7 (19:43):
And stay next a mem her still today.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
But you ain't no doubt I love this man.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
God bless God, and that is God blessed the USA.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
By Lee Greenwood. Well, I want to go to Medical
News today and there's.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
An article they have about what to know about depression
in the military and stories from veterans, And we won't
get a chance to read this whole article, but I
want to give a little bit read a little.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Bit on this article to you.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
And it says the prevalence of depression in the military
is higher than in the general population. And this may
stem from the fact that military life involves significant stressors
like deployment, combat, and relocations. And so when you're thinking
(20:59):
about the deployment, you're thinking about being separated from your friends,
your family, your loved ones. Many many of you who
are in active duty and you have been deployed, you
know firstthand what that feels like, being separated from even
your children. Some of you may have experience being on deployment,
(21:24):
and you might be on deployment right now and you
have a child that's uh soon to be born, and
you will maybe miss the actual birth unless you uh
maybe see a video live of my video.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Or you might.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Feel like I'm missing seeing my children grow up. I'm
missing seeing a lot of things with spending time with
my friends and loved ones, and so these are factors.
Even in deployment, there's a lot of more issues with
being state somewhere that might be very hostile towards Americans
(22:04):
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
There are a lot of factors if you've been in combat.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
If you're veteran, you and you've been in combat, and
you might be even dealing with some PTSD remembering things
that took place when you were on the field. You
may have lost some loved ones when you were in combat.
Dealing with relocations is very stressful where you're constantly having
(22:31):
to move from place to place every so many years,
and so that can also bring about a lot of
stress when you're having to always say pretty much goodbye
to one place to go to another. And you might
even have a hard time bonding with people because you
(22:53):
feel like if I bond then I'm gonna be hurt
again once it's time for deployment.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
And this also so happens with the.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Family members because remember that they're serving this too.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
With you.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
You might say, well, you're the one that's in active duty,
but then at the same time they're also dealing with
the same situation of separation, depression, anxiety, and other things
as well. Veteran families are dealing with that too when
the active duty person that was one serving is now
has hung up the uniform and there's things that go
(23:30):
along with that. So this is understandable where you might
have you might experience more stress when you're dealing with
these particular situations. The higher likelihood of depression does not
end with discharge from the military. As I mentioned, it
(23:51):
also affects veterans. Additionally, the increased depression rate affects families
of active duty military and this may be due to
stressors again with being separated from a spouse. They deal
with loneliness, increase parenting demands, and believing or not when
(24:12):
when the spouse is on deployment or the spouse is
separated during that time, the parent that is still present
with the children that can cause a lot of stress,
and then when the person comes back, you might you
might encounter conflict because you are the one parent, might
(24:34):
be used to doing things a certain way, handling things
a certain way while you're gone, and then you come
back and you try to get back into that role,
and then it could cause a lot of a lot
of stress, which can cause pressure on you as an individual.
Then you might be feeling depressed. You might be feeling detached.
(24:56):
You might be saying, you know what, I've been gone
and I I just don't know where I fit in,
or the family members might be saying, you know, I've
been handling things and I'm tired. I feel alone, I
feel stressed, I feel depressed.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I don't know what to do.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
And so I want to give you some symptoms of
depression that you might be experiencing. Rather you are the veteran,
whether you are the active duty personnel, whether you're reserves
first responder, whether you're a family member of someone that's
in the military. Number One, you can deal with a
lot of sadness. Depression often causes sadness. Okay, when you're depressed,
(25:40):
you're not it's your happiest moment, all right, So you're
you're you're sad. It could be a loss of pleasure
or a loss of interest in activities you're not You're
not things that you normally will take joy in. You're
not even doing those things anymore. So, rather you have
a hobby, or rather it's something that you normally would
(26:04):
do with friends or loved ones, you really don't have
any interest in it at all. You might be sleeping
more or sleeping less than you normally do. That can
be a sign of depression. Oftentimes, if you're feeling sad,
how you ever just want to just ball up in
a bed, cut the lights off, close the curtains, and
(26:25):
eat bombonds or just sleep okay. Or you might do
the opposite, where your depression is keeping you up, your anxiety,
whatever it is you're dealing.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
With is keeping you up at night.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
You might be experiencing weight loss or weight gain depression.
When you're dealing with depression, it can have It can
affect you from one extreme.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
To the next extreme.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
You might totally stop eating because you're just stressed, depressed
or whatever, or you might start eating more because you're stressed,
depressed or whatever. You might notice that you're tired. Their
tiredness may be from a lack of sleep, or it
could be too much sleep. But when you still feeling tired,
(27:09):
your mind might still be going okay, where you're not
really getting that deep and ram sleep that you need.
You might have a reduced sense of concentration where you
feel as if you know what, I can't focus, all right,
I got a job to do in the military, but
I can't really focus. Or I'm not in the military,
(27:31):
but I can't focus. I'm not able to just really
think clearly, and that can cause you to that could
be a sign of depression.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
You might have.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
You might be slow in your mental activities or physical activities. Again,
if you're not getting to sleep, if you're wearried, if
you're stressed, if you're depressed, if you're sad lethari you
might be feeling lethargic. Your mind might be lethargic, if
you're feeling worthless, or you're having excessive guilt, because sometimes
(28:06):
people get depressed when they they have survivors guilt, and
we're gonna talk about that on an upcoming podcast. Well
you know, why am I still here? Why wasn't it
me that lost my life instead of my comrade?
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Or you might.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Be you might be out the military and you still
suffering from that depression based upon that survivor's guilt or
feeling worthless, or are you feeling like, Okay, what do.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
I do now?
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Now I'm out the military and I don't know where
I fit in? This civilian world is a lot different
from what I'm used to. I'm used to having my comrades.
I'm used to feeling like I have family because we
lived on base and we were connected, and I always
felt like I had, you know, I was a a
(29:00):
part of a bigger family. But now that I'm out
the military, where do I fit in? Or I'm in
the military, but I don't feel like I'm connecting exactly,
or nothing seems to be going right, or I just
feel totally discombobulated.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I'm just everywhere. This can be a sign of depression.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Another sign that we don't want to ignore is thoughts
of suicide. Thoughts of suicide because that can often come
with depression. One of the things that we don't want
is for someone to do something permanent that's only temporary,
(29:44):
and suicide is a permanent, permanent situation that is not
a good solution to anyone in all parties that are involved,
or you may have even you may be depressed because
so when you know did do this, and you may
have been in the military, because people in the military
(30:07):
do commit suicide. I remember when years ago when I
was stationed in Wibbee Island, Washington, and I was always
hearing of soldiers committing suicide. It was during that particular time.
It was really a depressed state to be in.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
At the time.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
The largest store there was Kmar and so imagine high
school kids hanging out at Kmar like it's the next
best thing since chocolate cake. Okay, So it was Kmart
on that particular island was their mall right, And so
it was rained a lot, so soldiers would be depressed
(30:47):
or whatever, and so you might even hear about people
offer themselves, which can also cause you to be depressed
and have those thoughts of suicide. Again, if this is
you or someone you know, please get them the help
that they need, if they will listen to you. One
(31:07):
eight hundred A two seven one thousand. That's one eight
hundred A two seven one.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Zero zero zero.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
That's the VA eight hundred line, their main number.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
And if you are.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
Having thoughts a suicide, they will connect you to a
veteran crisis counselor you do not want to.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Go through this by yourself.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
This is a person who was experiencing symptoms of depression
while in the service. His name is Danny, and he said,
he said that I first noticed depression symptoms when I
was twenty seven. I drank more than I planned, work
longer hours, stop doing things I really enjoyed, and spent
(31:54):
more time in isolation. And this is a drinking is
a symptom as well. It can be a symptom of
depression where you're trying to just forget all about whatever
it is that you are depressed about, and so therefore
(32:14):
you take to the bottle instead of dealing with the issue.
One meta analysis reviewed research to determine the prevalence of
depression among members of the armed force of the Armed Forces,
and it found the following depression affects twenty three percent
(32:36):
of active duty military. Suicidal ideation or suicidal attempts occur
in eleven percent of active duty military. Suicidal ideation deals
with thoughts or are having a preoccupation of committing suicide
(33:00):
or ending your life. Suicidal ideation or attempts happened in
eighteen percent of active duty military who use drugs and
nine percent of those who consume alcohol. So to compare
these statistics to the general population, eight point four percent
(33:22):
of adults in the United States had at least one
major depressive episode in twenty twenty. And when you're thinking
about in twenty twenty, you think about hey, COVID, and
a lot of people were depressed because they were having
to maybe stay indoors, or they had to wear masks,
(33:43):
or they were separated from their friends, children were separated
from their school, their classmates and everything. So a lot
of ex a lot of people experienced depression. And I
want to just leave you with this. If you are
you have to ask yourself, how have you ever considered suicide?
Speaker 3 (34:03):
And if so, then.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Please talk to someone. Talk to someone. Suicide is not
the answer. You may think it is, but it's not
the answer. We all have had certain situations in life
where it could have, you know, where we felt like, oh,
I'm alone, I'm dealing with so many things.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
I may I just can't.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
I can't take it anymore. And that's what the devil
wants you to think, is that you can't take this.
You're you're not strong enough. You know you're all alone,
but you are not a loan.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
And if you know.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Someone is dealing with this, ask them directly or you
considering suicide. Don't be afraid to ask because if they
do it, it's too late to ask.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Listen to the.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Person, don't form a judgment. Listen to them. Called nine
one one or text to seven four one seven four
to one, that's seven four one, seven four to one
to talk to a trained crisis counselor stay with that
person until the professional and or help arrives.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
And if they have.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Any weapons, harm for medication, harmful objects, you may need
to remove those things to put them at less risk
for actually following through with the suicide or act. And
don't think that just because they may have attempted once,
they won't try it again.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Oftentimes they will try it again.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
You can contact the suicide Hotline at nine eight eight
Okay of Prevention Hotline nine eight eight. That's the Suicide
and Crisis Lifeline and they're available twenty four hours a
day or a DOW seven.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Nine eight eight.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
Depression affects twenty percent of veterans. Again, suicidal ideation or
attempts occur in eleven percent of veterans, and veterans who
use drugs, the rate of suicide ideation and attempts are
eighteen percent and thirty percent, respectively, and suicidal ideation or
(36:24):
attempts occurring eight and eight percent of veterans who consume alcohol.
We don't have time to go through this entire article,
but I want to just say that seventeen veterans commit
suicide daily according to statistics, and that is too high.
(36:45):
That is too many. One is too many. And we
want to just help you by saying that if you
or someone you know is having it's experiencing depression and
you're having suicidal thoughts, please get help, talk to someone,
(37:07):
let someone know how you're feeling and what you're feeling.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
You are not alone.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
And one thing you need to know, and I'm here
to tell you today, is that Jesus loves you.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
You may feel as if you have no one.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
You're all by yourself, you're isolated, you're in unfamiliar territory.
But Jesus loves you, and he is the God of
life and love. And because he created you, he gave
(37:49):
you life, then he loves you. And because he loves you,
he wants you to love you as well.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
Well.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
We're going to end today's podcast, and I pray that
it has been a blessing to you. But I want
to do something before we Before we end today's podcast,
I want to pray with you, because prayer is the
best weapon we have against the enemy. And you may think.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
That you know what.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
I'm alone and I just don't feel God right now.
But God is always there and he wants us to
always come to him because he loves us. Dear Heavenly
Father God, we just thank you God for allowing us
to come into your presence this morning.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Lord.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
We thank you for all that you've done for us
and all that you're doing in our lives. We ask
Lord that you forgive us for our sins. We ask
that you would cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord Lord,
we ask right now that you will cover those that
are serving in the military right now. We pray Lord
(39:09):
that you would be with them, guide them, Lord, and
deliver them from all types of evil, Lord, including those
things that come inside their minds, the cause depression, the
cause anxiety, the cause wary, those things that will come
against them, and who you have created them to be. Lord,
(39:31):
We pray for that soldier that may feel alone, Lord,
that you would give him or her strength to know
that you are.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
There, and that even though they may be dealing with.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
Whatever issues that may be facing them right now, Lord,
that they are not to deal with it alone, that
they can put it in your hands. We pray for
that veteran right now, Lord, that may be depressed, Lord,
that may be experiencing PTSD, suicide, the thoughts, anxiety, wary,
panic attacks.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Lord.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
We ask Lord, that you will rebuke the enemy right
now in their lives, Lord, and help them to know
that they have purpose, even though they may have hung
up the uniform that you are still hiring in heaven
in the name of Jesus, and no weapon formed against
them will prosper. We pray for the family members of
(40:27):
those who have loved ones that's in the military and
those who may have already served. Lord. We ask that
you would be with the mothers that are trying to
raise their children on their own, Lord, that you would
be with them, guide them, Lord, and encourage them in
strengthen them. We pray for the children that may feel
separated during their parents' time of deployment, or even when
(40:53):
their parents come home as a veteran. Lord, that they
will be able to reunite and be stronger than ever before. Lord,
we pray for those that are first responders that go
into the action. Lord, we ask that you would be
with them, Lord, protect them, guide them. In the name
of Jesus' Lord, we pray Lord for those other reservers
(41:18):
that are on standby waiting to be called up. Lord,
we asked Lord that you would give them a hedge
of protection. Right now, Lord Lord, we just thank you
Lord for our military. We thank you for our veterans.
We thank you for our first responders.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
We thank you.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
For all who serve in the families of those who
serve that sacrifice as well, so that our military can
do what they need throughout the world. Lord, we ask
that you would be with them. We asked that you
would guide them. We ask that you would protect them mind, body,
(41:55):
and spirit. We ask all these things in your Son's name.
And we asked Lord that they would know that they
are loved and that they are not alone. In Jesus' name,
You're sure, Hamma Shick, thank God.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Amen.
Speaker 4 (42:17):
Amen, I pray that you all have a blessed and
wonderful day. Remainder of the week and I look forward
to seeing you on next week, Lord Willing at the
same time saying well days, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I
(42:40):
thank you. I am your host, doctor and evangelist and
Navy veteran k l Rich.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
Until next time.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Thanks for tuning in to Veterans in Christ. We pray
that you found today's podcast informative. Look forward to being
with you again during the next podcast. May the Lord
bless them keep you going out and coming in.
Welcome to all who have served, are serving, and will
serve in the Armed services, to the veterans. In Christ
Podcast with your host, doctor and Navy veteran k l Rich,
we pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and
physical life is one as we follow Christ, who is
our commanding officer in this field called life.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Whether you are here for.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, PTSD, suicide prevention, or
want to know the latest military news, we are here
to serve you. Now Here is your host, doctor k
l Rich.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi, and thanks for tuning in today.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Today is so Today is Thursday, October seventeenth of twenty
twenty four. I am your host, doctor and Navy veteran
Ko Rich, and I'm here to serve you all, my
fellow veterans and active do the military, first responders, and
military families.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Thanks for tuning in today.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Before we get started today, I want you to please
do me a favor.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Hit that share button.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Share this podcast with someone you know that is a veteran,
someone that is active duty, someone that's the first responder,
or the family of a military serviceman. I pray that
you sharing this will be able to bless someone because
on this podcast we are trying to help one another, and.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
We are veterans in Christ.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
That means that as we serve or are have served,
our service has not stopped. It will not stop until
Jesus returns or until he comes in takes us home
to glory. And whether I mean by that, I mean
taking us to sleep. And so therefore we have a
(01:59):
service today do in the Lord's army, and I pray
that you are being equipped right now for the service
of the Lord, that you are actively doing what God
would have you to do. Rather you're on active duty,
rather your reservist, rather you have already served and hung
(02:19):
up the uniform. You may be a veteran or you
are a family member of either of those groups. We
pray that this podcast will be a blessing to you
as well as your service to the Lord will remain
on active duty. That's right, You're still on active duty
(02:40):
when it comes to God. All right, So today today,
we're talking about a serious topic today and we're gonna
be talking and coming from the Book of Ruth, the
Book of Ruth. There are a lot of you that
may have or at some point experienced depression, that's right, depression.
(03:07):
And we're gonna talk about that when it comes to
military life.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
And just the moment.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
But I want to read to you today from the
Book of Ruth chapter one, and this story tells of
a woman who had a husband, she had two sons,
they had their wives, but she wind up losing mostly
(03:34):
everything that she had, and some biblical scholars would say
that she even went into a little moment of depression,
and that can happen to any of us.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
And someone to just read and.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Ruth chapter one, Ruth chapter one where she loses her
husbands and sons, and it says in the days when
the judge is Ruth, there was a famine in the land.
So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his
wife and two sons, went to live for a while
in the country of Moab. The man's name was Alimelech
(04:13):
and his wife was Naomi, and the names of his
two sons were Milan and Keelan. They were Ephradites from
Bethlehem Judah, and they went to Moab and lived there. Now,
ilamelek Eli's husband died and she was left with her
(04:37):
two sons. They married Moabite women. One named Orpah and
the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
both Milan and Keelan also died, and Naomi was left
without her two sons and her two and her husband.
(04:58):
And I just want to stop right there. So you
see this man Ilamelech and his he had taken his wife,
his family. He had taken his wife and two sons
to Moab from Bethlehem. Why because there was a there
was a famine in the land, and so he was
(05:18):
trying to provide for his family. However, while they were there,
the two sons got married. But for some reason, the
Bible doesn't go into any details much about this. But
the husband died. It could have been from old age
or we don't We just don't know what caused his death.
(05:40):
And then we also see that the two sons died
as well, and.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
We don't know what calls their deaths.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Okay, So you have Naomi losing not only her husband,
but she lose both of her children, and that can
cause it anyone to have a.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Be in a depressed state.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So let's go on to verse six, which often happens
with depression. So let me just go into this and
then we're gonna elaborate a little further. When Naomi heard
in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid
of his people by providing food for them, she and
her daughter in laws prepared to return home from there.
(06:26):
With her two daughter in laws, she left the place
where she had been living and set out on the
road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Then Naomi said to her two daughter in laws, go back,
each of you to your mother's home. May the Lord
show you kindness as you have shown kindness to your
dead husbands and to me. Made the Lord grant that
(06:49):
grant that each of you will find rest in the
home of another husband. Then she kissed them goodbye, and
they wept aloud and said to her, we'll we will
go back.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
With you to your people. Now let me just stop
right there.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
So Naomi planned to go home. She heard that the
land and Bethlehem had returned back. God was blessing them,
and so she decides to go back home to her people.
So where she had once went full with her husband
and two sons, now she's returning and she doesn't have
(07:25):
those that were closest to her, with the exception of
her two daughter in laws. However, she tells.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Them to go back home.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Now. One thing, when you are dealing with depression, which
could have been this case in Naomi's case, sometimes you
want to be in isolation. Those that are depressed, they
sometimes don't want to be around other people, and so
they will push people away in order for them to
(07:54):
be isolated in their depression, which is never is never
a good thing. So in verse eleven, but Naomi said,
return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me?
Am I going to have any more sons who could
become your husband's Return home, my daughters.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I am too.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Old to have another husband, even if I thought there
was still a hope for me. Even if I had
a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would
you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried
for them? No, my daughters, it is more bitter for
me than for you, because the Lord's hand has turned
(08:33):
against me, and I want to just bring up something
right there. Oftentimes we can feel as if when we're
going through things that is God's hand against us, God
has turned his back to us, or God is somewhat
this pleased with us. And so Niomi felt as if
God was against her. She was in this solemn moment
(08:58):
where she did not see that the hand of God
in her life to see. What she didn't know was
God was still operating, even though she had lost her son,
even though her sons, even though she had lost her husband,
God was still in control. And regardless of going through
(09:19):
whatever situation that you may be facing as a veteran,
as an active duty military personnel, if you are reservist,
first responder, whatever situation you may be going through, always
know that God is still in control. And so in
(09:39):
verse fourteen, at this they wept aloud and said, then
allowed again. Then Orpah kissed her mother in law goodbye,
but Ruth clung to her. Look said, Naomi, your sister
in law is going back to her people and her
gods go with her. But Ruth replied, don't urge me
(10:01):
to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go,
I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.
Your people will be my people, and your.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
God my God.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Where you die, I will die, and there I will
be buried. May the Lord deal with me ever so severely,
if even death separates you and me. When Naomi realized
Ruth was determined, to go with her.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
She stopped urging her.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
And this is good. This is friendship right here. Ruth
did not want to leave her mother in law. She
had a special bond with her mother in law and
she did not want to part ways with her mother
in law.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Ruth was leaving all.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
That she knew behind to go be with her mother
in law. And if you know someone that is depressed,
guess what. They need you, They need you. If you
are depressed, guess what. Don't deal with it alone. Talk
to someone, Talk to a friend, talk to a trusted friend,
(11:13):
a counselor. If you have a pastor that you can
talk to, talk to someone. But don't feel as if
you are alone. I want to also take a moment
to tell you, as a veteran, you can call the
one eight hundred number. They will dispatch you to or
(11:38):
or put you to a veteran counselor crisis counselor a
veteran crisis counselor if you're going through depression, suicidal thoughts.
One eight hundred eighty two seven one thousand. That's one
eight hundred eight to seven one zero zero zero. So
(11:58):
Naomi and verse two, let me go back to nineteen.
So the women went on until they came to Bethlehem,
and when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was
stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, can this
be Naomi? Don't call me Naomi? She told them, call
(12:19):
me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
I went away full, but the Lord has brought me
back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted
me and the Almighty has brought misfortune on me. And
so Naomi here, she's showing her emotions right now, she's
(12:43):
showing her grief. She's showing that she has experienced laws
where she don't even want them to call her by
her name. She wants them to call her Mara, meaning
that the Almighty had brought affliction against her. And sometime
you can feel as if God is against you. His
hand is against you when you suffer loss, when you
(13:07):
suffer things that that uh that.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
No ordinary person would normally go through.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
And there are times when God does allow judgments and
things to come. Sometimes we bring them about on ourselves.
But then there's times, as in this case, it wasn't
something that Naomi had done. This was not a punishment
to Naomi, because as you continue to read in the
chapter in the in the Book of Ruth, you will
(13:36):
see where God blessed her tremendously, where she was even
able to nuriseh, the the child that that that Ruth
and bo Ass had when they got married. And so
she was blessed. She was rich, richly, richly blessed. And
even though she may have seemingly encountered a temporary set back,
(14:02):
it was only a set back. Oftentimes, you might find
yourself going through various trials and tribulation, and you think that, oh, well,
this is over. There's no hope, there's no sun in
the sky. But the thing is, regardless of whatever you
(14:23):
think you may be going through in life, know that
you can always turn to God. He is always there.
Jesus is our King of kings, and he's our Lord
of lords. And there is no suffering, no pain, no agony.
That he does not understand why, because Jesus went through
(14:46):
it himself, he too felt separated from God. He too
felt a moment of a separation anxiety from God when
he was on the cross and he said Eli, he
was calling Eli, but he was saying, my God, My God,
why have you forsaken me? And he felt that separation
(15:10):
from God when he was on the cross, he felt
separated from his father. So if Jesus can feel that,
then we too will sometimes feel as if we have
been separated, or we are depressed, or we will go
through things as well. But we can always take comfort
(15:33):
and knowing that there's nothing that we have experienced down
here that Jesus has not gone through and can empathize
with our pain, with our suffering. The Bible lets us
know that we have a high priest that is empathetic
to all that we have gone through, all that we
(15:55):
go through, all that we will go through. But the
thing is is that because He went through it himself,
that He is there to carry us through. You are
not alone, regardless of what thoughts come into your mind.
The enemy loves to make you feel as if you
(16:17):
are alone, but you are not alone. God is always
there And if you are a veteran, you can reach
out to health, to counselors who can help you. If
you're in the military, don't let anyone tell you, oh,
you don't need to talk to someone, Talk to a chaplain,
(16:40):
talk to someone in mental health. If you're able to
talk to a good friend, talk to your pastor talk
to someone, but never feel as if you are alone.
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be
back in just a moment.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
If tomorrow all things were gone. Work for all.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
My life and I had a star again, just my
children and my wife, Thank my lucky stars to be
him and here.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
Because the flag still stands for freedom and they can't.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
Take it away, and about.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
To be an American where he standover Lanfred that I
won't forget.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
The men who died who.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Gave that night to me, and I did stay.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Next to you and the men herself today because there
ain't no doubt of.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
This land got less than.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
From the lates of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee,
across the plains of Texas, from See the Shade See Detroit,
down to Houston.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
In New York. Two the movie.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Was pride into every American heart, and it's time is standing.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Say got a bart to be head American where least
nine over land to get the men who died, who
gave that time to me and my lady say.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
It's to you, and it concurs still today, But it
ain't no doubt I love his love.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
God lest you as.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Kind of pout to killing.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
An American where at least I know, And I go,
who get the men who died? Who gave that fun
to me?
Speaker 5 (19:42):
And I did?
Speaker 7 (19:43):
And stay next a mem her still today.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
But you ain't no doubt I love this man.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
God bless God, and that is God blessed the USA.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
By Lee Greenwood. Well, I want to go to Medical
News today and there's.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
An article they have about what to know about depression
in the military and stories from veterans, And we won't
get a chance to read this whole article, but I
want to give a little bit read a little.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Bit on this article to you.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
And it says the prevalence of depression in the military
is higher than in the general population. And this may
stem from the fact that military life involves significant stressors
like deployment, combat, and relocations. And so when you're thinking
(20:59):
about the deployment, you're thinking about being separated from your friends,
your family, your loved ones. Many many of you who
are in active duty and you have been deployed, you
know firstthand what that feels like, being separated from even
your children. Some of you may have experience being on deployment,
(21:24):
and you might be on deployment right now and you
have a child that's uh soon to be born, and
you will maybe miss the actual birth unless you uh
maybe see a video live of my video.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Or you might.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Feel like I'm missing seeing my children grow up. I'm
missing seeing a lot of things with spending time with
my friends and loved ones, and so these are factors.
Even in deployment, there's a lot of more issues with
being state somewhere that might be very hostile towards Americans
(22:04):
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
There are a lot of factors if you've been in combat.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
If you're veteran, you and you've been in combat, and
you might be even dealing with some PTSD remembering things
that took place when you were on the field. You
may have lost some loved ones when you were in combat.
Dealing with relocations is very stressful where you're constantly having
(22:31):
to move from place to place every so many years,
and so that can also bring about a lot of
stress when you're having to always say pretty much goodbye
to one place to go to another. And you might
even have a hard time bonding with people because you
(22:53):
feel like if I bond then I'm gonna be hurt
again once it's time for deployment.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
And this also so happens with the.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Family members because remember that they're serving this too.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
With you.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
You might say, well, you're the one that's in active duty,
but then at the same time they're also dealing with
the same situation of separation, depression, anxiety, and other things
as well. Veteran families are dealing with that too when
the active duty person that was one serving is now
has hung up the uniform and there's things that go
(23:30):
along with that. So this is understandable where you might
have you might experience more stress when you're dealing with
these particular situations. The higher likelihood of depression does not
end with discharge from the military. As I mentioned, it
(23:51):
also affects veterans. Additionally, the increased depression rate affects families
of active duty military and this may be due to
stressors again with being separated from a spouse. They deal
with loneliness, increase parenting demands, and believing or not when
(24:12):
when the spouse is on deployment or the spouse is
separated during that time, the parent that is still present
with the children that can cause a lot of stress,
and then when the person comes back, you might you
might encounter conflict because you are the one parent, might
(24:34):
be used to doing things a certain way, handling things
a certain way while you're gone, and then you come
back and you try to get back into that role,
and then it could cause a lot of a lot
of stress, which can cause pressure on you as an individual.
Then you might be feeling depressed. You might be feeling detached.
(24:56):
You might be saying, you know what, I've been gone
and I I just don't know where I fit in,
or the family members might be saying, you know, I've
been handling things and I'm tired. I feel alone, I
feel stressed, I feel depressed.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I don't know what to do.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
And so I want to give you some symptoms of
depression that you might be experiencing. Rather you are the veteran,
whether you are the active duty personnel, whether you're reserves
first responder, whether you're a family member of someone that's
in the military. Number One, you can deal with a
lot of sadness. Depression often causes sadness. Okay, when you're depressed,
(25:40):
you're not it's your happiest moment, all right, So you're
you're you're sad. It could be a loss of pleasure
or a loss of interest in activities you're not You're
not things that you normally will take joy in. You're
not even doing those things anymore. So, rather you have
a hobby, or rather it's something that you normally would
(26:04):
do with friends or loved ones, you really don't have
any interest in it at all. You might be sleeping
more or sleeping less than you normally do. That can
be a sign of depression. Oftentimes, if you're feeling sad,
how you ever just want to just ball up in
a bed, cut the lights off, close the curtains, and
(26:25):
eat bombonds or just sleep okay. Or you might do
the opposite, where your depression is keeping you up, your anxiety,
whatever it is you're dealing.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
With is keeping you up at night.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
You might be experiencing weight loss or weight gain depression.
When you're dealing with depression, it can have It can
affect you from one extreme.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
To the next extreme.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
You might totally stop eating because you're just stressed, depressed
or whatever, or you might start eating more because you're stressed,
depressed or whatever. You might notice that you're tired. Their
tiredness may be from a lack of sleep, or it
could be too much sleep. But when you still feeling tired,
(27:09):
your mind might still be going okay, where you're not
really getting that deep and ram sleep that you need.
You might have a reduced sense of concentration where you
feel as if you know what, I can't focus, all right,
I got a job to do in the military, but
I can't really focus. Or I'm not in the military,
(27:31):
but I can't focus. I'm not able to just really
think clearly, and that can cause you to that could
be a sign of depression.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
You might have.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
You might be slow in your mental activities or physical activities. Again,
if you're not getting to sleep, if you're wearried, if
you're stressed, if you're depressed, if you're sad lethari you
might be feeling lethargic. Your mind might be lethargic, if
you're feeling worthless, or you're having excessive guilt, because sometimes
(28:06):
people get depressed when they they have survivors guilt, and
we're gonna talk about that on an upcoming podcast. Well
you know, why am I still here? Why wasn't it
me that lost my life instead of my comrade?
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Or you might.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Be you might be out the military and you still
suffering from that depression based upon that survivor's guilt or
feeling worthless, or are you feeling like, Okay, what do.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
I do now?
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Now I'm out the military and I don't know where
I fit in? This civilian world is a lot different
from what I'm used to. I'm used to having my comrades.
I'm used to feeling like I have family because we
lived on base and we were connected, and I always
felt like I had, you know, I was a a
(29:00):
part of a bigger family. But now that I'm out
the military, where do I fit in? Or I'm in
the military, but I don't feel like I'm connecting exactly,
or nothing seems to be going right, or I just
feel totally discombobulated.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I'm just everywhere. This can be a sign of depression.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Another sign that we don't want to ignore is thoughts
of suicide. Thoughts of suicide because that can often come
with depression. One of the things that we don't want
is for someone to do something permanent that's only temporary,
(29:44):
and suicide is a permanent, permanent situation that is not
a good solution to anyone in all parties that are involved,
or you may have even you may be depressed because
so when you know did do this, and you may
have been in the military, because people in the military
(30:07):
do commit suicide. I remember when years ago when I
was stationed in Wibbee Island, Washington, and I was always
hearing of soldiers committing suicide. It was during that particular time.
It was really a depressed state to be in.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
At the time.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
The largest store there was Kmar and so imagine high
school kids hanging out at Kmar like it's the next
best thing since chocolate cake. Okay, So it was Kmart
on that particular island was their mall right, And so
it was rained a lot, so soldiers would be depressed
(30:47):
or whatever, and so you might even hear about people
offer themselves, which can also cause you to be depressed
and have those thoughts of suicide. Again, if this is
you or someone you know, please get them the help
that they need, if they will listen to you. One
(31:07):
eight hundred A two seven one thousand. That's one eight
hundred A two seven one.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Zero zero zero.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
That's the VA eight hundred line, their main number.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
And if you are.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
Having thoughts a suicide, they will connect you to a
veteran crisis counselor you do not want to.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Go through this by yourself.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
This is a person who was experiencing symptoms of depression
while in the service. His name is Danny, and he said,
he said that I first noticed depression symptoms when I
was twenty seven. I drank more than I planned, work
longer hours, stop doing things I really enjoyed, and spent
(31:54):
more time in isolation. And this is a drinking is
a symptom as well. It can be a symptom of
depression where you're trying to just forget all about whatever
it is that you are depressed about, and so therefore
(32:14):
you take to the bottle instead of dealing with the issue.
One meta analysis reviewed research to determine the prevalence of
depression among members of the armed force of the Armed Forces,
and it found the following depression affects twenty three percent
(32:36):
of active duty military. Suicidal ideation or suicidal attempts occur
in eleven percent of active duty military. Suicidal ideation deals
with thoughts or are having a preoccupation of committing suicide
(33:00):
or ending your life. Suicidal ideation or attempts happened in
eighteen percent of active duty military who use drugs and
nine percent of those who consume alcohol. So to compare
these statistics to the general population, eight point four percent
(33:22):
of adults in the United States had at least one
major depressive episode in twenty twenty. And when you're thinking
about in twenty twenty, you think about hey, COVID, and
a lot of people were depressed because they were having
to maybe stay indoors, or they had to wear masks,
(33:43):
or they were separated from their friends, children were separated
from their school, their classmates and everything. So a lot
of ex a lot of people experienced depression. And I
want to just leave you with this. If you are
you have to ask yourself, how have you ever considered suicide?
Speaker 3 (34:03):
And if so, then.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Please talk to someone. Talk to someone. Suicide is not
the answer. You may think it is, but it's not
the answer. We all have had certain situations in life
where it could have, you know, where we felt like, oh,
I'm alone, I'm dealing with so many things.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
I may I just can't.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
I can't take it anymore. And that's what the devil
wants you to think, is that you can't take this.
You're you're not strong enough. You know you're all alone,
but you are not a loan.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
And if you know.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Someone is dealing with this, ask them directly or you
considering suicide. Don't be afraid to ask because if they
do it, it's too late to ask.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Listen to the.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Person, don't form a judgment. Listen to them. Called nine
one one or text to seven four one seven four
to one, that's seven four one, seven four to one
to talk to a trained crisis counselor stay with that
person until the professional and or help arrives.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
And if they have.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Any weapons, harm for medication, harmful objects, you may need
to remove those things to put them at less risk
for actually following through with the suicide or act. And
don't think that just because they may have attempted once,
they won't try it again.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Oftentimes they will try it again.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
You can contact the suicide Hotline at nine eight eight
Okay of Prevention Hotline nine eight eight. That's the Suicide
and Crisis Lifeline and they're available twenty four hours a
day or a DOW seven.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Nine eight eight.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
Depression affects twenty percent of veterans. Again, suicidal ideation or
attempts occur in eleven percent of veterans, and veterans who
use drugs, the rate of suicide ideation and attempts are
eighteen percent and thirty percent, respectively, and suicidal ideation or
(36:24):
attempts occurring eight and eight percent of veterans who consume alcohol.
We don't have time to go through this entire article,
but I want to just say that seventeen veterans commit
suicide daily according to statistics, and that is too high.
(36:45):
That is too many. One is too many. And we
want to just help you by saying that if you
or someone you know is having it's experiencing depression and
you're having suicidal thoughts, please get help, talk to someone,
(37:07):
let someone know how you're feeling and what you're feeling.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
You are not alone.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
And one thing you need to know, and I'm here
to tell you today, is that Jesus loves you.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
You may feel as if you have no one.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
You're all by yourself, you're isolated, you're in unfamiliar territory.
But Jesus loves you, and he is the God of
life and love. And because he created you, he gave
(37:49):
you life, then he loves you. And because he loves you,
he wants you to love you as well.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
Well.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
We're going to end today's podcast, and I pray that
it has been a blessing to you. But I want
to do something before we Before we end today's podcast,
I want to pray with you, because prayer is the
best weapon we have against the enemy. And you may think.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
That you know what.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
I'm alone and I just don't feel God right now.
But God is always there and he wants us to
always come to him because he loves us. Dear Heavenly
Father God, we just thank you God for allowing us
to come into your presence this morning.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Lord.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
We thank you for all that you've done for us
and all that you're doing in our lives. We ask
Lord that you forgive us for our sins. We ask
that you would cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord Lord,
we ask right now that you will cover those that
are serving in the military right now. We pray Lord
(39:09):
that you would be with them, guide them, Lord, and
deliver them from all types of evil, Lord, including those
things that come inside their minds, the cause depression, the
cause anxiety, the cause wary, those things that will come
against them, and who you have created them to be. Lord,
(39:31):
We pray for that soldier that may feel alone, Lord,
that you would give him or her strength to know
that you are.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
There, and that even though they may be dealing with.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
Whatever issues that may be facing them right now, Lord,
that they are not to deal with it alone, that
they can put it in your hands. We pray for
that veteran right now, Lord, that may be depressed, Lord,
that may be experiencing PTSD, suicide, the thoughts, anxiety, wary,
panic attacks.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Lord.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
We ask Lord, that you will rebuke the enemy right
now in their lives, Lord, and help them to know
that they have purpose, even though they may have hung
up the uniform that you are still hiring in heaven
in the name of Jesus, and no weapon formed against
them will prosper. We pray for the family members of
(40:27):
those who have loved ones that's in the military and
those who may have already served. Lord. We ask that
you would be with the mothers that are trying to
raise their children on their own, Lord, that you would
be with them, guide them, Lord, and encourage them in
strengthen them. We pray for the children that may feel
separated during their parents' time of deployment, or even when
(40:53):
their parents come home as a veteran. Lord, that they
will be able to reunite and be stronger than ever before. Lord,
we pray for those that are first responders that go
into the action. Lord, we ask that you would be
with them, Lord, protect them, guide them. In the name
of Jesus' Lord, we pray Lord for those other reservers
(41:18):
that are on standby waiting to be called up. Lord,
we asked Lord that you would give them a hedge
of protection. Right now, Lord Lord, we just thank you
Lord for our military. We thank you for our veterans.
We thank you for our first responders.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
We thank you.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
For all who serve in the families of those who
serve that sacrifice as well, so that our military can
do what they need throughout the world. Lord, we ask
that you would be with them. We asked that you
would guide them. We ask that you would protect them mind, body,
(41:55):
and spirit. We ask all these things in your Son's name.
And we asked Lord that they would know that they
are loved and that they are not alone. In Jesus' name,
You're sure, Hamma Shick, thank God.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Amen.
Speaker 4 (42:17):
Amen, I pray that you all have a blessed and
wonderful day. Remainder of the week and I look forward
to seeing you on next week, Lord Willing at the
same time saying well days, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I
(42:40):
thank you. I am your host, doctor and evangelist and
Navy veteran k l Rich.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
Until next time.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Thanks for tuning in to Veterans in Christ. We pray
that you found today's podcast informative. Look forward to being
with you again during the next podcast. May the Lord
bless them keep you going out and coming in.
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