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Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained

Cold Highway

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The Army hit a grim milestone last year when the suicide rate exceeded that of the general population for the first time: 20.2 per 100,000 people in the military, compared with the civilian rate of 19.5 per 100,000. The Army's suicide rate was 12.7 per 100,000 in 2005, 15.3 in 2006 and 16.8 in 2007.

Ugh reading these kind of things is so grim and sad. You got to wonder what goes on in the heads of our soldiers when they come home and they see that suicide is the only option.

Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained - WSJ.com
 
Ugh reading these kind of things is so grim and sad. You got to wonder what goes on in the heads of our soldiers when they come home and they see that suicide is the only option.

This is a horrible epidemic in the Army right now. Army leaders from the top all the way down are fighting hard to deal with this. It is very hard to stop and/or control. The bottom line is taking care of people; identifying who is high-risk and trying to get them help. This means leaders (Corporal to General) have to CARE about their Soldiers and get involved personally in their lives. It's not just young Soldiers that are at risk. It's NCOs and Officers, as well.

I believe Fort Campbell, KY is having the worst time with this right now. Thier numbers are jaw-dropping. This is a real strain on the force right now.
 
I just can't help but wondering, how one is to deal with this problem? Sometimes saying "war is hell" is reasonable enough, but in this situation that is the problem entirely; it's like trying to churn butter with the intention of not churning butter.
 
I just can't help but wondering, how one is to deal with this problem? Sometimes saying "war is hell" is reasonable enough, but in this situation that is the problem entirely; it's like trying to churn butter with the intention of not churning butter.


It's not just the deployments. Any Soldier on here will attest that we don't exactly "take it easy" in Garrison.

Here is what the Army has done recently:

Army G-1 Suicide Prevention Page
 
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How do the numbers correspond to the possibility of deployment?

Plenty of them happen overseas. Unfortunately, the Army only reports a suicide in Iraq or AFG as a "non-combat related death". But the suicides in Garrison are for a multitude of reasons. I haven't crunched the numbers. I just know that we are focusing hard on this, as you can imagine.

Identifying the potential at-risk folks early and getting them help.

First, we must defeat the stigma attached with it.
 
My husband deals with people suffering from depression and so on all the time - it's his job.
I have a lot of things I could add but fear violating opsec so I'll choose my words carefully.

I'll say that the Military has various programs and really try to do their best to detect problems early and intervene as often as possible and find help for soldiers. But suicide isn't something that just suddenly *up and happens* one fine night like a car accident.

Also, soldiers are trained to keep their emotions canned, they often don't share their feelings and many fear that if they seek help for mental-instability they'll lose their position or get the boot for good.

Further, some programs are purely optional and information within the ranks lacks - there is a ton of help but *how* to find it isn't the easiest thing to land your hands on.

The programs - however wonderful - are manned by mostly mlitary members, not necessarily trained profressionals. . . not to insult my husband, he's very good at what he does. . . but there are a lot of situations that leave him strained and stressed. So it's kind of an endless loop.

Anyway, I've said enough.
 
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Plenty of them happen overseas. Unfortunately, the Army only reports a suicide in Iraq or AFG as a "non-combat related death". But the suicides in Garrison are for a multitude of reasons. I haven't crunched the numbers. I just know that we are focusing hard on this, as you can imagine.

Identifying the potential at-risk folks early and getting them help.

First, we must defeat the stigma attached with it.

The Western notion of psychatrists always fascinates me, as it does not seem that putting an at-risk person in a dark room and brood over their troubles should help.

If that is the step we are taking with soldiers, then we might want to try another method that focuses more on bright things, instead of dreary.

Overseas? Like Germany and Japan?
 
The Western notion of psychatrists always fascinates me, as it does not seem that putting an at-risk person in a dark room and brood over their troubles should help.

If that is the step we are taking with soldiers, then we might want to try another method that focuses more on bright things, instead of dreary.

Overseas? Like Germany and Japan?

It often helps to have someone to talk to, who is unrelated to you or your situation and who can give advise and maybe prescribe anti-depressants if need be, etc.

If the wife is wigging out, command doesn't want to hear it and you're afraid you'll be booted from your unit it's nice to have someone on the outside who you can trust to keep your thoughts and feelings private.
 
Ugh reading these kind of things is so grim and sad. You got to wonder what goes on in the heads of our soldiers when they come home and they see that suicide is the only option.

Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained - WSJ.com

Because, 9 times out of 10, the paper hanging therapist hs never served in the combat and has no ****ing clue what's going on in that soldier's head.

The first political forum I participated one, had a member that claimed to a be a phsycho-therapist. She said that everyone of her vet patients, ended up committing suicide. Of course, since she's a full blown Libbo, it was Bush's fault. I'll never forget when I asked if perhaps she thought that since she had never served in the militar, much less in combat, that it was her inability to treat these men that was the real problem. As you all can imagine, the other Libbos shouted me down as a hater and an ass hole, Bush-bot, war monger, liar, etc.
 
This is a horrible epidemic in the Army right now. Army leaders from the top all the way down are fighting hard to deal with this. It is very hard to stop and/or control. The bottom line is taking care of people; identifying who is high-risk and trying to get them help. This means leaders (Corporal to General) have to CARE about their Soldiers and get involved personally in their lives. It's not just young Soldiers that are at risk. It's NCOs and Officers, as well.

I believe Fort Campbell, KY is having the worst time with this right now. Thier numbers are jaw-dropping. This is a real strain on the force right now.
We went through suicide prevention training.
 
I just can't help but wondering, how one is to deal with this problem? Sometimes saying "war is hell" is reasonable enough, but in this situation that is the problem entirely; it's like trying to churn butter with the intention of not churning butter.

"War" isn't hell, its the coming back to "peace" that is the hard transition and if you don't have the support there you will commit suicide.
 
"War" isn't hell, its the coming back to "peace" that is the hard transition and if you don't have the support there you will commit suicide.

Exactly.

The transition is hard - for members and everyone else. You train to fight, they don't train you to readjust to "normal."
They've taken steps to try to help - like requiring a 2 week garrison to unwind, but that still doesn't help.

My husband was gone for 18 months one time and couldn't handle the kids at all when he came home - just days before he left our youngest was born . . . so you can imagine that coming home to the kids being almost 2 years older was hard to handle, especially with hte youngest who had a very "mommy" attachment. The transition back to work was hard, getting use to the growing-up family was hard, and going to the store without being on edge was hard.
 
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I'm glad this topic has come up in such a respectable way.


There are several things that need to be done and many have touched upon it well.


However, if your a veteran or a concerned person, consider volunteering for any of the numerous re-integration programs, and get involved.
 
"War" isn't hell, its the coming back to "peace" that is the hard transition and if you don't have the support there you will commit suicide.




War is indeed hell, returning from hell, you have a different perspective and those around you don't get it..... it's an isolating prison that can bring you down for a while.


support is important. but suicide is not a guarantee either.
 
I'm glad this topic has come up in such a respectable way.


There are several things that need to be done and many have touched upon it well.


However, if your a veteran or a concerned person, consider volunteering for any of the numerous re-integration programs, and get involved.

Thank you - There's a lot of help my husband can offer to returning soldiers in the program he heads because he deployed, came back, went into his program and then later joined the program to help others.

He's the only soldier to have done so and we need more people who have actually been there and done that to help out. His assigned soldiers are from all over the country and they really respect his views because of his past experience.

For others in his position, though they're in it heart and soul, sometimes they just can't relate to their soldiers because of lack of experience with what they're going through.
 
Ugh reading these kind of things is so grim and sad. You got to wonder what goes on in the heads of our soldiers when they come home and they see that suicide is the only option.
One wonders how we managed to win WW2, where servicemen were deployed for the duration.
 
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