A Department of Defense task force dedicated to preventing suicide in the military recently released a report with some disturbing facts.
The report acknowledges that the physical and psychological demands on our volunteer fighting forces are huge. Between 2005 and 2009 alone, more than 1,100 soldiers committed suicide. That is one soldier dying by suicide every 36 hours. The report notes that the rate of suicide deaths in the Army has more than doubled.
The task force mentions numerous research reports that have documented the psychological and emotional injuries — “the hidden wounds of war” — that have devastated many military members and their families. Personnel who are deploying — as well as those left behind — are under stress because of an imbalance created by inadequate manpower. Consequently, military personnel are not getting enough downtime with their families and communities before they are required to return to combat.
Based on their own findings, the DOD task force believes that unless effective prevention measures are put into place, the rate of suicide deaths will continue to rise.
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This is incredibly unbelievable. I am shocked. All the efforts to get rid of the stigmatization and at the very root of our nation there sits stigma in full force.
We are always fighting the cause, organizations like NAMI help to provide the platform and expertise.
It is with great hope that President Obama takes this in the right direction.
The “stigma” of suicide? What an offensive claim.
Wholly unacceptable.
Harold A. Maio
khmaiO@earthlink.net
Of course the family members of people who die during military service deserve a compassionate response, such as a condolence letter from the President. No matter how they died. Military service exposes people to trauma beyond imagining, and the military person’s suicide is a tragic psychological casualty of war. By the way, after reading your piece I researched further, and found that the Department of Defense has the same policy that the White House apparently does. Both need to be changed.
But I also think that these policies are a reflection of the stigma surrounding suicide that still exists in our culture. After all, we still use the term to “commit” suicide as if it were a crime. For that reason, in the crisis intervention field we substitute the term to “complete” a suicide.
The condolence letter would be a nice touch, but even more, I hope that military staff and their families will have improved access to counseling services. Erasing the stigma of mental illness, and the fear that acknowledging emotional pain would damage a person’s military career — might do something to reduce the suffering, and lead to the need for fewer letters.
I honestly think there SHOULD BE a stigma on suicide! If it was was an accepted practice then probably more soldiers would kill themselves. Right now, the “stigma of suicide” keeps a lot of people from doing it or even considering it. It SHOULDN’T be an honorable way to die. Perhaps, you should change the title of this post to something like “the stigma of being a suicide surviver” or the Stigma of mental illness in the Military.” Because that’s really what this post is about.
Also, in respect to the president not sending letters of Condolence- I think the main reason this policy is in place is to discourage service members from doing it. Because if the president recognized the suicide, it’s almost like he is condoning it. NOT a good message to sent to someone considering suicide. Perhaps there is someway the president could do something, but not appear to be condoning the suicide. Like for example, sending a letter of apology for falling to help the solider,etc. Plus, a suicide is virtually always preventable, if the proper measures are in place, unlike say dying from a stray bullet or roadside bomb. ( I’m not sure if they send letters out to families of soldiers who died in accidents). And of course never helps the war effort.
Granted a lot of these arguments run contrary to what we know about suicide. For example, that most, if not all, of people who commit suicide are suffering from a serious mental illness and that many or most saw suicide as their only way out (esp. when there’s barriers to mental health treatment).
Still, I think the way that mental health problems are dealt with in the military is incredibly flawed and stigmatizing. A friend of mine who’s father was in the military told me that after her mother (a civilian) saw a military therapist for treatment of her depression, her father was denied a desired post and a promotion on the basis of his wife seeking mental health treatment! This was only a few years ago.
As a massage therapist whose clients with PTSD will eventually enter my practice, this policy places me and all of us as professionals in a position to strengthen our resolve in our healing to others. We are an essential part of their healing. I am especially honored to rebut this policy to the best of my ability by creating peace in my daily life as well as in those I assist.
It disturbs me how the military tries to slide out from taking responsibility for the fact that war produces trauma its ranks (which include depression and anxiety) and does not screen for PTS in some way and do not have an automatic screening (for sure) when the soldiers are released. It is a crime — literally, I think. The soldiers and his/her families should be given at the very least educational materials that talk about trauma, the symptoms, the list of websites that speak to PTS, as well as what they can do when the government is unresponsive. For myself, after thinking about this for years and encountering agencies (the center that modeled treatment world wide could only treat 34 people a year and employed 24 people that dothat — it makes no sense given the huge number of traumatized people — millions. I came to the conclusion that interested lay people should be screened, treated themselves then educated and trained to work with PTS if they are interested.At least people would have something instead of they have (mostly) nothin or very little. Anyone wanting to learn to work with TRAUMA STRESS? There are organizations that will teach it, I teach it to lay peopl myself. In parts of Africa, they have lay women, some of them illiterate, doing fistula repair surgery.
And why? Because it’s Africa and there aren’t the rules and regulations about such matters. Though there are NGO’s that are training intelligent competent people (and illiteracy has nothing to do with intelligence.The cry here by professionals would be “there goes the most basic of professional standards.” I disagree — these training organization that will train lay-people have been doing this work for years and many of them are evidenced abed which means thy have done studies about the efficacy of their trauma resolution methods. Even the professional people who know how to treat trauma are limited — it was just s couple of years ago that Bessel van der Kolk (international expert on traumatic stress) said that traditional counseling and psychotherapuetic practices do not TOUCH traumatic stress.
So there we are with our military people. some with serious PTS, walking around — some barely functioning — they need help to resolve the trauma. Even if the military started admitting the degree of untreated trauma, and their people were trained, there never will be enough professionals to address the problem and with the stigma attached to PTS, seeking help to resolve it,doesn’t happen often enough anyway. It took me years of research, training myself and thought to come to the conclusion that community/lay people need to be trained in just this narrow focu and yes, they will be supervised. The fact is that when people go to an easily learned method of treatment for themselves, they leave and often informally treat their friends and family anyway. To me, I would rather see these caring interested people trained and give resources and supervision to the work well. Any thoughts?
Laws requiring mental health care professionals to hospitalize or report to authorities individuals contemplating suicide severely worsens the situation.
Individuals thinking about suicide cannot utilize the services of a mental health care professional and still retain the freedom to make their own choices.
Is Suicide a ” mental illness”? This is not a proven fact. In India the suicide by IT professionals, the rich and educated are considered due to “stress’ but not suicide by farmers!!!
I also agree with LS that suicide should be discouraged and it is better Stigma is attached to it.In fact this stigma and also the “sin” associated with Judas suicide prevented me doing it just for fun to give company to a class mate!!!
We shouldn’t even be at war. Stop the wars and you solve the problem.
I disagree with the view that suicide should be stigmatizing. It can’t always be prevented as many people, other than just veterans and service people, don’t have access to psychiatric care and even some that do don’t disclose they are suicidal. Yes, it is a waste and painful to families but it is the last resort for people in unbelievable pain or psychotic. What we need is more access to treatment, not stigma.
As for the letter, I can’t see how it can hurt to send it and memorialize their service.
It used to be fairly standard policy that a life insurance policy did not pay benefits if the insured committed suicide within the first two years of the issuance of the policy. After that, the suicide was treated as any other death but accidental, depending upon the fine print.
Suicide is a sad fact of life and death.
The very extension of tours, the repeated tour requirements, the decline of the economy which prevented so many soldiers from being able to protect their literal home fronts, creates a very different climate for servicemen now. Recruiting has changed and the cross-section my be more reflective of the country as a whole – which means the suicide rate of the country rather than just the military.
There are many reasons given for the high suicide rate of these men (and women too) but that does not excuse the lack of recognition of their service to this country. Nor should it penalize the family for the deprivation of another fighting body who may have previously done several tours in service.
Whatever the reasons, military lifestyle adds additional pressures on several frints which not everyone can withstand…
If the military is concerned enough to study it and to try to find a way to reduce it, there should be an official acknowledgement of the tragedy by the State…apparently there used to be.
The turning of the head, the blind eye seems born of a character which defines service to country as a religious machismo experience.
Not honoring the fallen serviceman now is a grave disservice to prior service, to family and to the Country. Informal, unspoken, whatever, this protocol is a disgrace.
I agree with Anne. Stop the manufactured wars and we won’t be dealing with suicidal soldiers who feel that they can’t die soon enough to end the pain and suffering they see in all around them, and are helping to create.. Somewhere along the line we really screwed up convincing human beings that killing and harming other human beings is serving one’s country or one’s God…and that applies to all countries and all Gods.
Who’s to say that a soldier that commits suicide isn’t dying for his God as well! His/Her God may teach to treat others with love and respect, therefore by taking him/herself out of the killing and wounding, the soldier is in fact saving others lives and can be seen as a hero to humanity. Sort of a reverse martyr.
Are there any veterans/still serving members out there who, having survived their suicidal thoughts/acts, can tell us what their “turning point” was?
What was it that got you through?
What help would you have liked most?
Did hearing about the suicide of other veterans make you think it was ok to suicide?
Does it worry you that the President doesn’t send letters?
How could your loved ones have helped you?
What help from others did your loved ones need to help you?
Did you have mental health issues before you joined?
What should the Army have done in their training program before they even sent you to war? What should they have done after?
What should you have done before? And what should you have done after?
Your opinions REALLY MATTER because a lot of research studies exclude people who are at risk as the researchers are afraid something will happen that they will be blamed for, so please speak up so that the reality of your situation is addressed. Researchers will never know what they might be missing if they are not told. They cannot “do” any better, if they don’t know any better – please help us help you and others.( I know sometimes it is hard to be able to explain the situation because there just seems to be no words to explain what was happening in your head. )
I still fail to understand why the Department of Defense doesn’t recognize Licensed Professional Counselors, and won’t hire them to provide mental health counseling on base….only social workers are considered for these positions. With the rise in deployment related mental health issues including increased suicide rates, it stands to reason that all mental health professionals who are willing to provide care should be given the chance to do so…..
This is a travesty! Having had two cousins who fought in Vietnam and both committed suicide, I can relate to those families who are in pain. But Anne, your comment about stop wars and that will end the problem is too simplistic. The war itself, did not cause the suicides. Those people were most likely suffering from depression anyway; the war could have been the catalyst. If not the war, some other event could just have easily caused the same result. You should read about depression.
There is only one judge that I know of and He did not appoint anyone on earth to take his place. My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go to the families who have a connection with a military suicide.
As young men and women, they have had a dream to become “Army, Navy, Airforce,” and the like, hearing stories like this, who will defend us with that Freedom that so many take for granted?
People in jail are taken care of better anyone else I know, when is election?????
To BillS’s comment: as a mental health professional myself, I do not report someone every time they mention suicide. There is much more to it than that. There seems to be a misunderstanding about that with the general population and those coming to counseling. We are required by law to break confidentiality and to assist in inpatient hospitalization if the situation warrants it. But typically, we discuss the situation with them and create a contact to safety, notify appropriate family members and such. I don’t know of anyone who hears something about suicide from a client and automatically puts them inpatient.
In regards to Bill S’s Comment:
That’s simply not true. Mental health professionals are only required to involuntarily hospitalize patients who are in IMMINENT danger of killing themselves or others. Usually this is defined as having a clear plan with intent to commit after they leave the session and not agreeing to stay safe until the next appt. Or if the patient is dangerously psychotic,etc Most Therapist very rarely have to hospitalize clients against their will. Even in those situations, confidentiality still applies. I know many people who have seen therapists for suicidal thoughts and/or self-injury and they were never hospitalized. If you are unsure, you should ask your therapist about which situations they would be required to hospitalize a client against their will.
The only thing is that in the Military, there are limits to doctor-patient confidentiality that makes the therapist’s job more difficult. I strongly suggest that the military revisit theses policies. Which I believe they are.
In regards to Andrea Steffen’s Comment:
I really don’t think lack of mental health providers is the problem. There are many many therapists in this country that the military could employ or send soldiers too. This issue is that up until recently they didn’t view mental health treatment as a priority and there is still a whole stigma in the military against getting treatment that the military is perpetuating. Also, PTSD treatment isn’t like repairing a fistula or a car or something like that. PTSD, like many other disorders, is a difficult disorder to treat and there are many factors that the therapist would have to consider. Effective PTSD treatment isn’t something you can learn in a few weeks. That is why there are strict training standards for being a therapist. Although, some sort of “peer counselor” system would be beneficial, formal treatment should be left to professionals. The military should just hire more professionals and make treatment less stigmatizing.
If they can afford a billion dollar a day war, then they can certainly afford to higher more therapists.
Also, Cejay- There are definitely many studies that look at people who are suicidal or otherwise at high risk for suicide. As a research assistant, I have even done data collection for some of these studies. Perhaps there aren’t many that specifically look at military people though, but I doubt that’s because “researchers don’t want to take risks”
Just my 3 cents…
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/issues-to-consider-in-intervention-research-with-persons-at-high-risk-for-suicidality.shtml
As an active duty Soldier in the US Army with over 15 years of service I can tell you what the biggest obstacle to soldiers is when it comes to seeking help with suicidal thoughts. There is absolutely no confidentiality when a soldier seeks help with suicidal thoughts. Not only is the unit Battalion and Company commanders and 1SG and CSM notified but the news quickly spreads through out the entire unit in a few hours. I have seen this happen to soldiers and they are treated like they are simply trying to get over and get out of work. I have seen soldiers taken to task for seeking help and treated the same as soldiers who have discipline problems. As a senior Non-commissioned officer I have taken others to task over this, however, the climate is still there and this activity happens over and over again. I can say with absolute certainty if I were ever to have suicidal thoughts while on active duty I would never seek help. The stigma and the treatment by others would be in my opinion worse then the possibility of me carrying out my thoughts. Until the pentagon realizes that soldiers require confidentiality with such a personal issue then the suicide rates will continue to go up. We may save a few but the hundreds that see how those soldiers are treated will never seek help if they need it.