Mental health treatment center planned for first responders in Georgia

Compared to the general population, police and firefighters face heightened risks of depression, PTSD and suicide, and they are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty, according to a 2018 report commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation, which advocates for people with disabilities.

At least 33 first responders have taken their own lives in Georgia since 2018, according to First H.E.L.P., a charity that fights mental health stigma. Most were men who held jobs in law enforcement.

Ambitious plans

The Hale Foundation, a nonprofit that helps men recover from drug and alcohol addiction, met with stiff opposition from Augusta residents for years as it sought to transform a former convent into Valor Station. Neighbors said they worried about safety and their property values. Ultimately, the foundation failed to win approval from the Augusta-Richmond County Commission.

The foundation sued in state and federal district courts. After losing those legal battles, the foundation switched to a location closer to Hale House, its addiction recovery center for men in Olde Town Augusta.

In preparation for Valor Station’s opening, Hale Foundation CEO Cliff Richards and a few colleagues checked out the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, which treats military veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Some of Emory’s patients have also held civilian jobs as first responders.

“I found there are a lot of parallels between what they are doing and being successful at with the military and what we are trying to do here with first responders,” said Matthew Carpenter, a former New York City police officer who serves as Valor Station’s chief administrative officer.

Sheila Rauch, deputy director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, also sees overlap.

“There are a lot of similarities. Both first responders and military populations have high rates of exposure to trauma,” Rauch said.

Valor Station plans to offer some of the same forms of treatment the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department has found effective for military veterans with PTSD.

Among them are individual and group talk therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, in which patients are instructed to discuss their traumatic experiences while focusing on blinking lights and vibrations. Patients from across the United States with and without medical insurance will be welcomed at Valor Station, Banish said.

“We want to open at least two on the East Coast and two on the West Coast, and hopefully have one or two centrally located, so officers don’t have to travel as far to get treatment,” said Jim Banish, the founder and president of the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program, a nonprofit that aims to prevent PTSD and suicide.

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