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The Pentagon is investing more than $100 million in new efforts to fight both traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The announcement of the new initiatives was made to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, which triggered off the 2 wars that have resulted in thousands of veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury.

California veterans benefits lawyers expect cases of post traumatic stress disorder to explode over the next few months, as soldiers return from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US military has been very concerned about the high incidence of both traumatic brain injury as well as life-altering post-traumatic stress disorder, which has been blamed for the high incidence of suicides among returning veterans. The military has been investing in brain injury research, but it is clear that more needs to be done to understand how best we can help these veterans who are returning home in such a crippled state.

The Pentagon’s 2 new initiatives are the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD and the Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium. These 2 consortiums will be managed by the Department Of Veterans Affairs and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs on behalf of the Defense Department.

The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD will study the potential indicators of the condition, possible strategies to prevent PTSD, interventions and treatments. The Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium will try to understand more about the causes of brain injury, the conditions that are associated with a worsening of brain trauma, as well as other related issues.

What makes both traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder especially challenging to beat is that very often, both of these conditions are found in the same person. A person who suffers a brain injury is at a much higher risk of suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder are at a much higher risk of suicide than the general population. In fact, California veterans benefits lawyers have found that suicides are the number one killer among veterans. Concerned at the growing number of suicides in the United States, especially those involving veterans, the federal administration has announced the launch of a new strategy that will tap into technologies, like social media and social networking to reduce the risks of suicide.

The new strategy was announced by US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who says that it is time we finally understood that the entire community can prevent a suicide. The strategy will include the use of social media and social networking, sites like Facebook, mobile apps as well as other technologies to help drive a community-based effort that will help prevent suicides.

As part of the strategy, the plan is promoting a Facebook Inc. service. The service allows users to report any suicidal comments that they see from people online. If such a person has been identified, then the website will send that person an e-mail, urging him to talk to a counselor confidentially online, or to contact a suicide prevention hotline. Facebook is a big part of this new strategy, and for millions of Americans as well as veterans, it has become a daily journal. There are a number of cases where people posted their feelings of depression and anxiety on Facebook, just before they committed suicide.

According to Facebook's global vice president for public policy, the website will use its unique resources to help people who are depressed.

Besides Facebook, the new strategy will also include the use of mobile apps, which are able to help persons who are suffering from suicidal thoughts, to connect with counseling services that can help them.

According to new data, American veterans recently crossed a chilling new milestone. California veteran benefits lawyers wonder if the military will take these new statistics seriously. For the first time, the number of veterans committing suicide is higher than the number of veterans being killed as a result of automobile accidents.

For years now, automobile accidents have been the number one noncombat-related cause of death for American veterans. That is no longer true. According to the Pentagon's Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, which was released recently, over the past 2 years, more veterans have committed suicide, than have died in automobile accidents.

Between 2005 and 2011, the proportion of suicides increased substantially, while the proportion of veteran deaths due to automobile accidents decreased sharply. In fact, in 2010 and 2011, more veterans were killed as a result of suicides, than transportation accidents. In 2011, suicides accounted for one out of every 4 veteran deaths from noncombat causes. The problem is much worse than it seems. The statistics show that in 2012 approximately one veteran committed suicide every day.

For years, the profile of the average young American vet corresponded with an increased risk of death in an auto accident. Members of the military are young, male, and high school educated, and that matches the profile of civilian accident victims too. Overall, young males are much more likely to be killed in an accident, regardless of whether they are civilians or military members.

However, the military has been focusing on safe driving campaigns, and that may have contributed to a reduced accident fatality rate among veterans. At the same time, the number of suicides involving veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan has spiked considerably.