Time is what it takes to get to the truth of the matter. In the case of the nearly forgotten suicide and bombed out Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Las Vegas Trump International Hotel, military veteran Matthew Livelsberger was, after all, on at least one mind-altering prescription drug and may have suffered from a real medical condition but wrongly diagnosed and “treated” as a mental health problem.

It turns out that, given enough time, these senseless tragedies make sense. Livelsberger, unfortunately, is another in a long line of military suicides that were labeled with mental disorders and “treated” with serious mind-altering chemicals. It also is another in a long line of warriors who never got better because of the mental health intervention inflicted upon the nation’s fighting men and women.

Apparently, Livelsberger, a Green Beret, killed himself with a handgun inside the Tesla Cybertruck just moments before a self-made incendiary device exploded in front of the Hotel’s main entrance. Livelsberger was on leave from the Army when he took his life.

According to the recently released autopsy, Livelsberger had THC, the compound found in cannabis and the antidepressant known as Prozac (Fluoxetine) in his system at the time of death. Livelsberger’s medical records revealed that he had previous suicidal ideations.

The decorated special forces soldier had, according to those who “treated” Livelsberger, bigger issues. Master Sergeant Livelsberger had been on 13 deployments and had been to Afghanistan five times. In a note he left behind, Livelsberger wrote “I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I have lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.” 

Livelsberger was diagnosed as being depressed and having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and, according to the autopsy, had been prescribed the antidepressant Prozac. Army officials finally revealed that Livelsberger “had access to and used the Preservation of the Force and Family program and did not display any concerning behaviors at the time.” Days later Livelsberger took his life.

The kicker, though, is the Army also acknowledged that Livelsberger also had suffered some traumatic brain injury. This is of interest because it shines a light on the dangerous policy of assigning psychiatric diagnoses when, in fact, many of our service men and women are suffering from real medical/neurological conditions that cannot be treated with mind-altering drugs.

Robert Card, an Army reservist and certified firearms instructor, was a long-time instructor at the Army hand grenade training range and was exposed to thousands of low-level blasts. In October of 2023, Card inexplicably went on a shooting spree, killing 18 people and injured 13 others in a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. The Army had concerns about Card and months earlier had referred Card for a psychological evaluation, where Card was provided prescription mind-altering drugs as “treatment.”

 Within weeks of his release from the hospital, Card went on a killing spree ending with his own suicide. Boston University’s CTE Center conducted a study on Card’s brain and reported “significant degeneration…inflammation” and “small blood vessel injury.” 

According to Boston University’s Dr. Ann McKee, “I cannot say with certainty that these pathological findings underlie Mr. Card’s behavioral changes in the last 10 months, but based on our previous work, brain injury likely played a role in his symptoms.”

Livelsberger, like Card, is just another example of a warrior who may have been suffering from a real medical condition only to be wrongly diagnosed with made up psychiatric disorders and subsequently prescribed extremely dangerous mind-altering drugs that cannot possibly “treat” the brain injury.

The fact is, the prescription mind-altering drugs that now make up the US military’s mental health “treatment” portfolio, do not “treat” any abnormality in the brain. And, to add insult to injury, the pharmaceutical companies admit that they do not know how the drugs “work” in the brain as “treatment” for any alleged psychiatric disorder. Could it be for this reason that no one appears to ever get better after being prescribed these prescription drugs and, rather, just get more drugged? Could this be why the military is suffering an increased number of suicides every year?

To date, the mind-altering drugs that Robert Card had been prescribed have not been released to the public. The families of the dead and wounded are suing the US Army and that information most certainly will become part of the court record should the case ever make it to court. But one must wonder why the US military refuses to release psychiatric drug information.

Just as strange, though, is the belief that Livelsberger was only prescribed one psychiatric drug. According to federal officials, Livelsberger “sat for three mental health counseling sessions between August and December” and was being “treated for depression and PTSD.”  The military is not shy about prescribing “cocktails” of psychiatric drugs and in Livelsberger’s case one would expect that because of his “suicidal ideations” he would be a prime candidate for polypharmacy drugging.

Of course, like the case of Robert Card, Livelsberger’s mental health records are not likely to see the light of day and the number of psychiatric drugs he had been prescribed may never be known. The US military apparently has no problem writing prescriptions until there’s a negative outcome and people die. Then the psychiatric brass circle the wagons and those too often used psychiatric “treatments” suddenly become tabu.

What is clear is that Livelsberger was, at a minimum, taking an antidepressant that carries a black box warning for suicidality. One can only wonder how any doctor could prescribe a drug that can cause suicidality to a man who already had exhibited suicidal behavior. 

And Livelsberger’s case further shines a light on the fact that many of our service men and women may actually be suffering from real medical conditions but are diagnosed as mentally ill. Sadly, these braves soldiers are then wrongly prescribed mind-altering drugs that don’t treat any known abnormality and probably only exacerbate the real medical condition. Don’t our service members deserve better?

AbleChild is a 501(3) C nonprofit organization has recently co-written landmark legislation in Tennessee, setting a national precedent for transparency and accountability in the intersection of mental health, pharmaceutical practices, and public safety.

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