LAWTON Okla_ We continue to learn new information about a woman who died following a
short standoff with Lawton
police last Thursday afternoon.
Lauren Haskins'
husband confirmed that she was indeed a member of the United States Army,
originally stationed in Fort Carson,
Colorado. She was diagnosed with
PTSD when she got out of the army just last year.
Police were
called to her home in Lawton
last Thursday, after she had threatened suicide. She died from a self-inflicted
gunshot wound, after police were unable to convince her to drop her gun.
7News Reporter
Sara Whaley talked exclusively with Haskins' husband Monday about her battle
with post traumatic stress disorder, and how it ended up getting the best of
her.
Lauren Haskins
was a medic in the army and deployed twice to Afghanistan, once during 2005 and
2006, and again the whole year of 2009. Her husband said both were rough
deployments. He has experienced them himself as a rifle platoon sergeant. Haskins'
husband requested 7News not release his name, but he did share some pictures
and his personal insight.
He said Lauren
loved painting, but it could never completely take her mind off her experiences
in Afghanistan.
"She didn't
like being around people," he said. "She didn't like being around crowds. She
always felt like she needed some safety and security."
That security
had been taken away as soon as she returned to the states. Because Lauren was a
medic, she was attached to an infantry unit. When they got home, the unit went
one way, and she had to go another. She was no longer around the people who
shared her experiences.
"I know
she felt a lot of alienation and felt like they really didn't understand. She
hadn't seen them for a year. She hadn't worked with them in a year. She hadn't
talked with any of them."
She also
battled with the fact that she was one of only three women who were with that
particular group.
"Because
she was a woman, she felt like she always had to go the extra mile to justify
what she did."
All of this
made it very difficult for Lauren to cope. As her husband said, treatment was
always a struggle for her.
"She didn't
want to have to explain everything to somebody."
That was the
feeling that ultimately took her life. While Lauren was never stationed at Fort Sill,
7News still visited the post today to see how it handles PTSD. Fort Sill
started a resiliency training campus in 2010 to help soldiers understand the
problem before it starts.
"If you
know how you are thinking, then you can control it," SGT John Peterson said, "Helping
you find that little bit of control that will help you make more accurate
decisions."
Haskins' husband
said it's not only control, but relationships that can save lives.
"Keep in
touch with the people that you were deployed with actively. Go out and try to
keep in touch with them."
A Fort Sill
psychologist said on average, Fort
Sill only has 3 suicides
per year. He said they work to build a relationship and rapport with soldiers
before even starting to address traumatic events. They also try to remind their
soldiers that getting better can make them feel more uncomfortable, and just
because it doesn't help the first time, they shouldn't quit.
The army saw a
record number of suicides last year, with more soldiers taking their own lives
than were killed on the battlefield. Just last week, the Secretary of the Army
ordered commanders to begin working on a plan for better psychological help for
America's
bravest.
