Suicide in the Military
Suicide in the Military
Candace L. Clark
Park University
October 7, 2009
Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out. Clearly, the military is going above and beyond to try and prevent further lives from being taken. According to the sociologist Emile Durkheim, when a person has a very strong degree of social connectedness, he or she may identify with its values or causes to such an extent that the sense of his or her own personal identity is diminished. For example, the values of the military predominated over the individual’s values. Such is the case in altruistic suicide, which has been defined as the “the self destruction demanded by a society... as a price for being a member of that society.” (DeSpelder & Strickland). The highest officer in each service told lawmakers they are working hard to fix the problems — devoting more senior leadership attention, instituting more and better training, attacking the stigma of asking for help, hiring more mental health providers and working across agency lines to keep an eye on and fund care for at-risk troops who transition back to civilian life. The specific steps range from implementing or strengthening “battle buddy” programs to ensure troops look out for each other; embedding, as the Marines have done, more mental health professionals within units; improving the “handoff” from the war zone to providers back home; and ensuring better continuity of care when troops transition from military to VA care, officials said. (Air Force Times, 2009) This is the first time since the Vietnam War that the rate of suicide in the Army, about 20 deaths per 100,000 soldiers, has
Candace L. Clark
Park University
October 7, 2009
Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out. Clearly, the military is going above and beyond to try and prevent further lives from being taken. According to the sociologist Emile Durkheim, when a person has a very strong degree of social connectedness, he or she may identify with its values or causes to such an extent that the sense of his or her own personal identity is diminished. For example, the values of the military predominated over the individual’s values. Such is the case in altruistic suicide, which has been defined as the “the self destruction demanded by a society... as a price for being a member of that society.” (DeSpelder & Strickland). The highest officer in each service told lawmakers they are working hard to fix the problems — devoting more senior leadership attention, instituting more and better training, attacking the stigma of asking for help, hiring more mental health providers and working across agency lines to keep an eye on and fund care for at-risk troops who transition back to civilian life. The specific steps range from implementing or strengthening “battle buddy” programs to ensure troops look out for each other; embedding, as the Marines have done, more mental health professionals within units; improving the “handoff” from the war zone to providers back home; and ensuring better continuity of care when troops transition from military to VA care, officials said. (Air Force Times, 2009) This is the first time since the Vietnam War that the rate of suicide in the Army, about 20 deaths per 100,000 soldiers, has
References: Carden, M.J. (2009, January 29). Army Works to Combat Rising Suicide. Retrieved from http://www.defenselink.mil/utility/printitem.aspx?print=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52879 DeSpelder, L.A., & Strickland, A.E. (2005). The last dance. Boston: McGraw-Hill. McMichael, W.H. (2009, March 23). Suicide rates remain high. Retrieved from http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/airforce_suicide_032309w/ Morrow, C. (2009, September 1). Suicide in active duty military personnel. Retrieved from http://www.psychotherapybrownbag.com/psychotherapy_brown_bag_a/2009/09/suicide-in-active-duty-military-personnel-the-september-2009-psychotherapy-brown-bag-featured-articl.html Ritchey, J. (2009, February 09). US military suicide on the increase. Retrieved from http://www.speroforum.com/a/18082/US-military-suicide-on-the-increase SUICIDE IN THE MILITARY 1