Sailor's Suicide Case Study

Veteran suicide among our soldiers is a distressing and tragic reality. Per the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Suicide-Data-Report-2012-final.pdf a staggering 22 veterans take their own lives each day. That's a suicide every 65 minutes. This is a heartbreaking truth that has not adequately received the attention it deserves from the civilian world. To add insult to injury http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0202-veteran-suicide-20150402-story.html tells us that there are two key high-risk groups of soldiers who typically are ineligible for psychiatric care: those forced out of the military for misconduct and those who enlisted but were quickly discharged for other problems. In each of those groups, an average of 46 of every 100,000 former service members committed suicide each

The suicide prevention program is driven and maintained by military leaders (i.e. officers and non-commissioned officers) and military social workers who actively support/contribute to the entire program and the initiatives within the community. Military leaders ensure that every service member receives annual suicide prevention training through PME conducted by military leaders. Additionally, the military has issued “guidelines” (which are military policies) for how commanders can reduce the stigma of mental health services by creating a positive culture climate. Commanders use the Commanders Consultation Assessment Tool, to gain insight into unit strengths and areas of vulnerability, as well as, creating a positive climate culture. This tool also teaches service members to recognize the signs and symptoms of distress in themselves and others and to take protective action and encourage others to do the same. The goal he is to foster a culture of early help-seeking, without judgment.

The early mornings when you are awakened by the sound of a bugle call, to gather for accountability and to salute the red, white, and blue American flag to start your military day, brings you a sense of fulfillment and a smile on your face. When you are in the United States military you are a part of an organization that becomes your family, because you live, breathe, fight, and die for your country. When you join the United States military you are broken down mentally and physically, so that they can build you up to protect and serve your country. In the United States military your weapon is the love of your life, because you eat, sleep, train, and kill with your M16 rifle, but who could

Ever thought about our soldiers and veterans and why they are diminishing so quickly? I would soon find out for myself about a disorder that is causing this diminish and how much it is being overlooked. The summer of 2014 would be a summer I would never forget. A family friend, a caring, energetic and happy boy would soon choose to take his own life. Some one you always saw and would make sure you were okay. Never in a million years would I have ever thought twice that a disorder would ever take him ever. I left out that he was a soldier. Serving his first tour and seeing things he would’ve never expected to see. He came back home lucky for us safe and sound or at least we thought. Soon we would see that he wasn’t himself and see things change.

Psychologist, Dr. Todd B. Kashdan of George Mason University states, “In general, people do not commit suicide because they are in pain, they commit suicide because they do not believe there is a reason to live and the world will be better off without them” (par 6). Hopelessness is negative attitudes and expectations about the future and can lead to someone feeling death is the only solution to his or her problem. Feeling hopeless does not mean Marines are weak, malingering, or avoiding responsibility; rather, it means Marines need help for their injury similar to physical injuries. Understanding this dilemma is vital for leaders in the Marine Corps to combat suicides and suicide attempts because it allows leaders to adjust their approach to each situation differently. Once leaders have a true understanding of the cause of suicide and suicide attempts, they are able to adjust their leadership styles too effectively handle Marines dealing with

What is the biggest challenge the Department of Veterans Affairs faces today? One of the most difficult challenges the VA faces today is the rates of veteran suicide. Our agency places more emphasis using medication as a solution for this problem. To help reduce high suicide rates among veterans, I propose that the Charles Wilson VA Clinic introduce Resiliency Training and Cognitive Reframing Therapy.

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

The Department of Veteran Affair and the Department of Defense have created a Clinical Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Management of Suicide Risk. This guideline was created based off of scientific knowledge and research. The guideline looks for several factors to assess the risk of suicide in veterans, including demographic and family history, psychiatric factors, access to means, and protective factors. The Department of Veteran Affairs used a multifaceted approach when creating the suicide prevention program in order to reduce suicide in the veteran population.

Among American civilians, whites have historically and significantly led the way in the rates of suicides. Although leveling off after the 1990’s, the rate of white suicides has still been almost twice as much as minority groups. It has also been shown that males commit suicide significantly more than females.

In March 2010, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA") released a sobering statistic: every eighty minutes, a military veteran commits suicide” (Mccarl and Lindsay 395). As one can see, this is a major problem in our society. Most of these suicides are from veterans with mental disorders, such as PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). Disorders such as this cause suicide, and are not always caught by professionals and/or families, and can even affect children of the victim in particular. There have been many solutions that have been proposed in the past but none of them tend to lower the percentage dramatically of veteran suicides in the United States. A solution that could now solve the problem would be a year of free counseling for a veteran after his/her tour. These statistics need to be addressed before it gets too out of hand.

Smooth, thin, and cold, the sharp object lying in her hands trembled due to her petite quivering fingers. The unforgiving sharp blade effortlessly sliced through her skin, pain and then numbness overshadowed her thoughts. With the world weighing down on her shoulders and with the sense of oppression, the girl carved into her arm without a feeling of regret. Daring, she placed the knife parallel to her veins located under her thin pasty skin. Finally, with resolution, digging the knife into her small arm, the young tortured girl could feel the deadly weapon tearing and mutilating her long tender veins. Gasping for breath, the pain surged throughout her body. However, with agony coursing through her body, the victim would not stop her leisurely stroll to the grave.

b. “I had three weapons: a pistol, my rifle and a machine gun, I started to think, ‘I could just do this and then it’s over.’ That’s where my brain was: ‘I can just put this gun right here and pull the trigger and I’m done. All my problems will be gone” (Tilghman).

The untreated depression, frequent deployments, financial stress, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, often brutal choices and the family separation have been linked to suicide rate among soldiers.

Veteran suicide and the impact resilience training has on the survival of veterans reintegrating back into civilian life. Veterans and risk of suicide. Veteran Suicide is a very real threat to our service members today. Many veterans get out of the military with high hopes, but soon realize the fight has ultimately just begun. Many things need to be considered when departing from the military back into civilian life, such as income, housing, health insurance, life insurance and many more burdens that were once afforded to them by the government, but alas that is just the beginning. Many veterans after reintegration hold on to emotions and behaviors that while in the service may have been suitable, but after entering the civilian sector again those emotions and behaviors can become quite burdensome on the prior service member. In the service, there is a strong sense of Esprit de Corps, which is a sense of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty that is shared throughout a group of people, and in this case the ranks of the military. Esprit de Corps also gives the service member a purpose that is greater than them self. Once those feeling are gone many prior service members tend to develop feelings of thwarted belongingness, which may act as a tailspin into suicidal ideation and proneness (Rogers 2016).

War, a slaughter of men that has gone on for hundreds & thousands of years. One of the most gruesome wars was WW1 which lasted for 4 years, 28 Jul. 1914 – 11 Nov. 1918. In this devastating war, the total number of casualties includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. Many of those soldiers were young men. The poem “Suicide in the trenches” written by Siegfried Sassoon tells what the harsh trenches had being like and how many soldiers became depressed. Sassoon was an officer who earned a military cross after carrying a wounded solider through enemy’s crossfire. He fought in many battles till 1917 where he would then have to leave the war due to Shellshock. Sassoon criticized the political leaders who sent young men off to die in huge battles that seemed pointless and while Sassoon was in Hospital he opposed the war by writing many poems including “Does it Matter”, “The Hero’ and arguably the most tragic poem, “Suicide in the Trenches”.