COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 27, 2017 — During his career with the Ohio Army National Guard, Capt. Michael Barnes has had many opportunities to lead fellow soldiers through a deployment as well as numerous training exercises. He’s also taken to heart the leadership philosophy of taking care of his soldiers’ mental health and well-being.
“I helped my first suicidal soldier in basic training back in 1993,” Barnes said. “When I was in my company command, I counseled at least a dozen soldiers expressing suicidal
Barnes is channeling his passion for helping veterans into a master’s degree in nursing, which will allow him to specialize as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. As part of his coursework, Barnes created a website and mobile app to, as his website states, “bring together a wealth of information and resources to combat the risk factors of suicide.”
“I’ve known veterans who have committed suicide and I’ve heard my military brothers and sisters say, ‘I wish that I could have done more.’ I have even said it myself. The problem is that we say it in the moment and then move on with our lives. I decided I was no longer going to move on with my life without doing something,” Barnes said.
With his Ohio Vet 2 Vet Network, Barnes’ goal is to create a nonprofit, build a network of peer-to-peer support groups and, eventually, establish transitional housing and a counseling center. For now, he’s gathered resource links related to topics that can be risk factors for suicide, such as post-traumatic stress disorder,
Project With Meaning
Barnes estimates he’s put in more than 150 hours of work into the project. His professor for the course at Ohio State University, Judy Donegan, calls the project “remarkable” and plans to have him present it to health professionals during national conferences.
“He’s done a remarkable job of bringing his own passion for his fellow veterans to life for those of us who are not military,” she said. “I want my students to do projects that have
According to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study, an average of 20 U.S. military veterans