The Root Cause Of Suicide In The Military

The primary purpose of this term paper is to talk about police suicide and whether or not it is preventable. While police suicide is an huge issue, the public do not hear much about it nor have enough information. Therefore, it is important to let the public know that it is an issue by spreading awareness and creating prevention methods. Important questions that should be asked are : What is suicide? Why are police officers committing suicide? How many police officers are committing suicide? Can police suicide be prevented? Have guidelines been created in efforts to prevent police suicide? How does the suicide of an officer affect other officers?

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.

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

Suicide prevention in the military forces is a past and present problem that requires deliberate attention and training in order to reduce the number of soldier’s deaths. This can seem like a goal that may never be attained when the overwhelming numbers of soldier deaths are

One of the disadvantage of previous military wars with todays, is technology. Now soldiers can stay in touch with their families so easy through social media. It is stressful for a soldier to see their friends and family day to day struggle or success, while they are trying to survive combat. So that?s when depression begins followed by alcohol abuse and ending with suicide. Fact: relationship problems are one of the most frequent risk factors associated with suicides among military members. ?Fact: relationship problems are one of the most frequent risk factors associated with suicides among military members? (Litts 2013). Litts also argues that suicidal can be caused due to brain

Suicide rates in the military are at twenty-two a day and that was in two thousand one (Dao and Lehren). In two thousand two suicides were at the rate of ten point three per one hundred thousand people (Dao and Lehren). Suicide rates in two thousand twelve were at three hundred and fifty (Dao and Lehren). In two thousand one there were two thousand seven hundred and maybe even more because this statistic did not include National Guard and reserve troops who were not on active duty (Dao and Lehren). However, studies are finding that eighty percent of soldier suicides were non-combat related (Dao and Lehren). This study is causing a concern to the military for the aspects of the background checks that the soldiers have to go through to get into the military. This is causing concern in the metal health part of the multiple series of test that these soldiers have to go through. Questions are arising like “Are the test becoming to easy and are we letting to many people in for not the right reasons?” This leads to looking farther into the causes of suicide in the military.

The answers to this question amazed me. I have found out that close to 17 veterans commit suicide daily and, over a year, that number adds up to over 6,000 suicides. I have also discovered that half of veterans with suicidal thoughts and tendencies do not seek help for their problems out of fear of being judged. Perhaps the most shocking statistic I found was that during the Vietnam War, the number of veterans' suicide greatly exceeded the number of deaths caused during combat. The two main information sources I used to answer this question are my expert interview and a GALE article titled Growing Public Health Crisis of Domestic Violence and Suicides by Returning Veterans. I asked my expert specifically about the statistics of veterans' suicide and she gave me a lot of insight on the issue. The GALE article contains a lot of statistics such as the daily number of veterans' suicide. My thoughts about the statistics of veterans' suicide are mainly about how shockingly high they are. I was surprised when I found out that 17 service men and women commit suicide every day. I was even more surprised when the article said that over 6,000 suicides occur every year and I calculated that number myself just to make sure. My findings on the statistics of veterans' suicide are both shocking and twistedly

As a consequence of the stresses of war and inadequate job training, when they get out of the service many have fallen behind their contemporaries. If they are fortunate enough to become employed, many of them are unable to hold a job due to untreated PTSD and acquired addictions without services and counseling designed for them. These factors may place our returning veterans at a higher risk of suicide. In 2007, the US Army reported that there were 115 suicides among OIF/OEF veterans. This was the highest number of suicides reported since the Army started keeping track about 30 years ago. In general, the risk for suicide among these veterans was not higher than that found in the U.S. population (Tull). However, there are several programs and 24 hour suicide hotlines available for those that may contemplate committing suicide as an option.

Twenty-two United States Veterans commit suicide every day, giving approximately one thousand seven hundred and eighty Veterans deaths due to suicide for the year of 2016 to date (“Operation Never Forgotten”). Veteran suicide is an ongoing problem because veterans enter the civilian world directly after receiving discharge from the armed forces and struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and acute stress, and anxiety (“Veterans ' Services”). Veteran suicides have become a large concern for members of the United States Armed Forces, Operation Never Forgotten (ONF) is an organization that is helping veterans find purpose and a reason to live, by working with the U.S. Congress, they could pass a law

Charles P. McDowell of the US Air Force says that “…suicide is had been viewed as an individual, rather than a collective problem.” If that is the case, why would the Canadian Department of Defence planning to spend over 50 million dollars trying to solve the problem of suicide amongst soldiers and veterans. In 1919, 43% of total male suicides were veterans. Also, many suicides did not include ‘suicide’ on one’s death certificate, instead of ‘suicide’, a simple ‘gunshot to the head’ was put as the cause of death, which means that the statistic may be, in fact, much higher than presumed . This was the case of Charles Campbell, whose death certificate has no mention of suicide, and instead, states ‘gunshot wound.’

The suicide rate for non deployed Afghanistan veterans is at a staggering sixty one percent whilst deployed veterans is at only forty one percent. In comparison, of number of bodies that is around eight thousand for the non deployed and only about 2,000 for the deployed. These stats are confusing because most would think that the war is what drives soldiers to the edge, but apparently that is not the case. The cause of these suicides has a range of explanations. Some simply related to the fact that the transition of wearing a uniform every day to not, is a challenging feat. In the army taking on a leadership role comes with the job whether you get deployed or not. Transitioning to commanding others then ending up in a job where you are the follower is a difficult

(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

Currently, about eight percent of the world’s population will develop some form of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. These numbers maximize when focusing on the military alone. During the Vietnam War, about fifteen percent of veterans were diagnosed with PTSD. This number doubled as the veterans went on with their life continued after the war to thirty percent. Our two most recent wars, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, lead in the numbers with up to twenty percent of the veterans suffering from PTSD. It is very difficult to account for every military related suicide since the department of defense no longer keeps track of the military personnel who are retired or who are no longer in service. A study relating

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).

In my analysis, I will demonstrate how Siegfred Sassoon has used many different language techniques to show his perspective on the true meaning of war.