Combating Suicide Research Paper

The Air Force lost 38 airmen to suicide in 2008, a rate of 11.5 suicides per 100,000 airmen. The average over the past five years — since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom — was 11 deaths per 100,000 annually. Of the airmen lost in 2008, 95 percent were men and 89 percent were enlisted. Young enlisted men with a rank of E1 to E4 and between the ages of 21 and 25 have the highest risk of suicide. Recently released data indicates that active duty males carry, for the first time in known history, a suicide risk greater than that of comparable males in the general population (Psychotherapy Brown Bag, 2009). This is particularly noteworthy considering that the military entrance process screens out serious mental illness prior to entry onto active duty, and that the rate of suicide in military males has historically been significantly lower than comparable civilian populations. To help

There are an alarming number of veterans who suffer from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. The suicide rate on returning veterans is on the rise. In California, service members were killing themselves and family members at an alarming rate. After an investigation, it was apparent that they do not have enough properly trained individuals to over see

There are many issues within the military organization that require focus and resolve in order to maintain the superior fighting force that protects the homeland. Unfortunately solider suicide is one of those issues. Suicide is the deliberate taking of ending of one’s life. It is often associated with a severe crisis that does not go away, or may worsen over time (Warning Signs, n.d.). This issue requires knowledge and training to help protect fellow soldiers. The military organization has decided that required annual training be conducted to every person wearing the uniform. The goal of this training is to increase awareness of suicide risk factors, warning signs, and how to provide intervention to at-risk soldiers.

Following the year 2013, suicide rates amongst Active Duty personnel decreased, yet rose for Reserve and National Guard units across the United States (Baldor 2014). This was due in part to the lack of resources available to Reserves and Guard units that were called to serve in foreign lands. The Defense Science Board conducted their own internal investigation on Reserve and Guard suicide rates and concluded, “The task force was impressed with the dedication and professionalism of the members of the National Guard and reserves. They are performing to a very high standard under great strain. The task force is very concerned for their future if the strain is not relieved” (2007). The report further explains that active duty personnel work full time in their respective units, whereas reservists demobilize and lose the support from their command’s peers and that active personnel have more access to health facilities, compared to reserve personnel who can only have limited access. Reservists and Guardsmen often face other stressors, for example sudden change after a long and tedious deployment back to a civilian career.

(2012) suggest that suicide prevention strategies must be implemented by professionals who understand military culture and the unique pressures of social cohesion and mental health stigma. Braswell and Kushner (2012, p. 535) agree that efforts must be implemented in a way that “account for the lived experience of soldiers.” Although these recommendations are in line with a growing body of academic scholarship on the topic of military suicide, it will be difficult to implement successful policy without a better understanding of what is behind the difference and change in suicide rate. With incomplete information or a lack of causality, policymakers will be unprepared to determine if the outcomes of their actions are an improvement compared to maintenance of current

For some time now, many have held the philosophy that the ever increasing deployment tempo and lengths of deployments have held significant value in the rising rate of suicides amongst our military and veterans. Combat trauma and other traumatic events experienced while deployed has also been on the hot seat as a predominate factor for being at risk. Whereas combat deployments can have a profound impact on the psychological and cognitive functioning of an individual, it is being seen that there is a significant percentage of individuals committing suicide that have never deployed. Stressors from military life in general are having a huge impact on the suicide rates of military members and veterans. Cerel, Van de Venne, Moore, Maple, Flaherty, & Brown (2015) found that “Stress on the entire military due to the length of these recent conflicts and the burden placed on all the forces has been linked to suicide risk among those who were never deployed. Other non-combat military- related events, such as exposure to death from training accidents, are expected incidents during military service but are also associated with PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders” (p. 83).

According to the Center, “Positive psychology is the systematic study of human strength, resilience and qualities that empower individuals and group of people to succeed” (Positive Psychology Center, 2014). Positive psychology’s founders learned through study that people usually place more emphasis on what goes wrong in their lives; they focus on their failures. For instance, divorce, financial obligations, or losing a job. It is imperative to comprehend the characteristics of undesirable experiences in an individual’s life. As an alternative to focusing on failure, focus can be placed on the positive situations in life and understand those are the occasions worth living for. Positive psychology emphasizes strengths and weaknesses, magnifying the positive aspects of life, and healing the effects of negative experiences. Positive psychology focuses on a person’s strengths and the hope of something larger then oneself to lead individuals to a more meaningful

Generally speaking, when any sort of death occurs, the family of the deceased or the property owner is responsible for death cleanup. Most people, however, are not prepared to take on the task, as it can be both emotionally trying and potentially hazardous. Thankfully, biohazard cleaning companies are available and capable of handling the numerous details of such a difficult job.

One of the leading causes of death in the U.S. military today is suicide. According to an article written by Kristina Wong on ABC News, “More than 2000 of them [military personnel] have killed themselves in the past decade, including last year [2010] compared with 153 in 2001.” (Wong, 2011). The suicide rates vary from branch to branch, and most likely to occur in veterans and active duty members ranking from enlisted to officers. There are many stressors that play a big role as to why some military personnel commit or attempt suicide; some of these stressors are problems at home and at work, failed relationships within family members or fellow co-workers, financial problems, trauma effects of before and after deployment, alcohol and drug

The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” (Chuck Palahniuk). The first concept I learned is positive psychology, and unexpectedly I have applied this concept throughout my life for the last sixteen years without realizing it until this course. People who employ positive psychology are those who make people happy throughout the course of their life and are optimistic during difficult times to cope with the challenges (Franzoi, 2014, pg. 8). People who incorporate positive psychology into their life have less stress and are tend to be happier and healthier. Positive psychology brings similar effects to positive emotions like happiness and pleasure as clinical psychology that treats depression and anger (Max, 2007).

Positive Psychology is defined as “…the scientific study of human flourishing, and an applied approach to optimal functioning. It has also been defined as the study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals, communities and organizations to thrive” (Gable & Haidt, 2005, Sheldon & King, 2001, as cited by Positive Psychology Institute). According to Martin Seligman, one of Positive Psychology’s pioneers, positive psychology consists of three major components- “pleasure and gratification”, “strength and virtue”, & “meaning and purpose”. He believes that the road to “lasting fulfillment” is a journey in which an individual must pass through each component in chronological order. (Seligman)

Positive psychology, is a new field of psychology that draw heavily on humanist influences. This area of psychology places its focus on understanding how to enhance our lives by studying what produces our happiness through the use of scientific methods to understand how this affects us leading healthy, happy and successful lives. Through the belief that society would like to lead meaningful and rewarding lives the goal of positive psychology is to, in addition the other fields of psychology, accompany these ideas in order to help individuals and society, as a whole, to achieve satisfactory lives, rather than just treating illness through the use of fighting our weakness by strengthening our positive traits.

Positive psychology is a relatively new, yet rapidly expanding field of study. It is the study of the positive facets of humanity focused heavily around well-being and happiness. Through the studies of positive psychology researchers are attempting to find ways to continuously improve quality of life and flourish as a society. Traditional psychology is obviously very complex and diverse. It is commonly accepted and referred to as the study of the mind and the subsequent behaviour and functions it carries out. Traditional psychology is an over-arching discipline and encompasses numerous different sub-sections such as human development, social behaviour, cognitive processes and health to name a few (McLeod. S., 2011). Positive psychology is another

Positive Psychology is a new area of psychology field that is gaining great momentum for its focuses on human strengths and in the positive of human functioning. The power of positive psychology has impacted people’s lives. This new branch of psychology emphasizes the value of positive emotions, positive psychological traits, positive relationships, and positive institutions for preventing chronic illness and malaise. This new and emerging perspective not only alleviate suffering of individuals facing chronic illness and psychological disorders but also help them to find purpose and meaning in their lives. Its

Jo Manion said,” the aim of positive psychology is to begin to catalyse a change in the focus of psychology from preoccupation only with repairing the worst things in life to