Led by CEO and Medical Director, Dr. Herbert Hendin, Suicide Prevention Initiatives (SPI) is the only not-for-profit organization doing research based treatment programs within the VA to prevent suicidal behavior among veterans with PTSD who are at risk (SPIorg.org). A veteran himself, Dr. Hendin’s work began with a 7 seven year project with Vietnam combat veterans who had Posttraumatic Stress Dis
order (PTSD), the condition most associated with suicide among veterans. Their first accomplishment was the development of an instrument that can predict which veterans with PTSD are at short-term risk for suicidal behavior. The second was the implementation of a six month treatment program that was able to prevent suicidal behavior among veterans with PTSD at risk for suicide who hade been previously treated with behavioral therapy and medication without success. Dr. Hendin and colleagues are implementing their treatment program, entitled Healing Hidden Wounds of War, with veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a pilot project at the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas with a grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. They intend to take the work further at a VA Medical Center in New York. An article on their work will be published later this year online and in a book entitled Suicidal Behavior in Military and Veteran Populations.
