The EOD Warrior Foundation is excited to announce a partnership with a dynamic and forward-thinking research team to ‘Crack the Suicide Code’ in the EOD Community.

Our EOD Community is all too familiar with the pain, confusion, and misunderstanding surrounding suicide. Though one is too many, our frequency is startling.  

The EOD Warrior Foundation is undertaking a new program to help evaluate the things we do to improve our suicide prevention and intervention. We begin this month starting a first of its kind organizational self-assessment of our EOD Community using state-of-the-art research techniques dealing with meaning making and suffering. 

In the past, the Foundation has tried to assist and comfort the family and friends who are the victims who survive the loss; to provide hope and wellness retreats for those who bravely seek assistance; to hold roundtable and discussion groups to discuss the problem areas and seek solutions; to provide interventive critical care and life coaching care with partners such as TTP and the Sound Off App to connect individuals with critical care and peer-to-peer support; to support our partners such as After the Long Walk and Panhandle Warrior Partnership opening up discussions designed to Remove the Stigma of seeking help; and to bring thoughtful podcasts to share information. Unfortunately, these are pieces that while beneficial, provide no clear path to intervene and stop the problem.

We have partnered with a joint interdisciplinary team of well-respected consultants and researchers composed of veterans, dependents, academicians, and clinicians. We will be seeking information from all era veterans, retirees, active duty, Guard, Reserves, and Spouses. There will be focus groups and surveys that invite the community to be the necessary participants providing the critical information necessary to be successful in creating meaningful and impactful efforts to “Crack the Suicide Code”. If you are wondering why you should participate if you haven’t thought of suicide yourself, it’s because you likely know someone who has, or is thinking about it.  We need to establish a baseline of the community so we need to capture as much information as we can from everyone whether you’ve thought of suicide or not.

We will begin at the “Remove the Stigma” event on 11 November, Veterans Day at our offices in Niceville, FL and will soon be sharing information on how you can participate to help us ‘Crack the Suicide Code’ within our EOD community.