Abstract
In the minds of many citizens and people across the globe the U.S. army is seen as a powerful machine that produces strong characters, devoted hearts and brave men. However, they are also human, and deep psychological problems develop while military men are exposed to wartime realities and massive killings. The problem of suicide in the army is a high-profile health problem that is complex and poorly studied. Military suicide is becoming a number one public concern as it puts a question of what are the real causes of suicides and how they can be prevented. The causes and reasons for such actions are different, including feeling guilty, post-traumatic depression, economic despair, and psychiatric disorders and so on. Therefore, the main priority now is to prevent the increasing tendency of military suicides among active-duty soldiers and veterans. The assistance should be provided on multiple levels and timely. In the current situation, prompt and decisive action is required.
In the minds of many citizens and people across the globe the U.S. army is seen as a powerful machine that produces strong characters, devoted hearts and brave men. People see military men as examples of strength, courage and real power. Sometimes they fail to understand that military men are also human with their fears and weaknesses. Their resistance to stress differs from one man to another and they cannot be considered as iron and unbroken. The U.S. Army as any other army in the world hires psychologists who specialize in the work with military men to help them overcome difficulties. Their cases are often much more difficult compared to those of civilians. Deep psychological problems develop while military men are exposed to wartime realities and massive killings. Soldiers kill and see death that has a negative impact on their psychology and self-assessment. Some of them cannot bare such burden and prefer to leave this world. Cases of military suicide are quite popular in the armies, and this makes the question of suicide prevention highly topical.
The problem of suicide in the army is a high-profile health problem that is complex and poorly studied. There is confusion about causes of military suicide and a great challenge for sociologists and psychologists who study the issue of people who die by suicide. It is noted that at the time of major military conflicts, as it happened in Iraq in 2003, the number of suicide deaths increased almost twice. Many soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq committed suicide after coming back from the war zone. However, the majority of suicides happened to military men on active duty that pushed to army to use inactive reservists. Another important factor that increases the suicide rate among the active-duty soldiers is the fact that the number of those who receive psychiatric help increased more than 1.5 times. Nowadays soldiers are often diagnosed with disorders that lead to suicide attempts or suicide ideation is the major factor that elevates suicide risk among soldiers. In some reports, it is said that in comparatively peaceful times suicide deaths in the army outnumber combat casualties (Lineberry & O’Connor, 2012). Thus, military suicide is becoming a number one public concern as it puts a question of what are the real causes of suicides and how they can be prevented.
AnnaBelle O. Bryan, Jacqueline L. Theriault and Craig J. Bryan (2015) studied the problem of military suicide among veterans and military personnel. They came to conclusion that the majority of them find it hard to forgive themselves and to justify killings and shootings they did. The authors say that “self-forgiveness may function as a mechanism for better mental health and decreases the likelihood of suicide ideation” (Bryan, Theriault & Bryan, 2015, p. 41). However, it requires through work of psychologists who may find a way to awaken self-forgiveness of those who blame themselves. It may not be death of enemies only which soldiers find themselves guilty of. They are trained to defend their Motherland and serve its interests, so they can tolerate death of many soldiers from the opposite site. However, they may find themselves guilty of being alive while numbers of their friends died in the war zone.
Also, they found that military men suffered from posttraumatic stress that led to suicide attempts. Some of the military personnel who found themselves immovable at a young age after serious trauma attempted suicide more often. For young soldiers, who woke up after being operated and see themselves helpless and dependent on others, it must be hard to adapt to new realities. Only with the help of the family, friends and specialists they may be brought back to normal life. Those who reject the assistance and are left alone to struggle the new reality, traumas may trigger the idealization of suicide as the only way to end sufferings. Moreover, those people who previously thought about committing suicide or even made suicide attempts from the most affected group. Their opinion is hard to change and even psychologists sometimes fail to persuade them that their life should not be ended in suicide (Rudd et al., 2015).
All things considered, it may be noticed that the issue of military suicide is becoming an epidemic. Healthcare personnel, sociologists and psychologists are concerned that this tendency may only progress due to the number of new challenges on the international arena. As the U.S. plays an important role as an international peacekeeper, participation of the U.S. army in some peacekeeping military operations cannot be avoided. Therefore, Frances Allen (2016) suggests that the epidemic of military suicide should be given due attention. He adds that economic situation is one more problem that leads to suicide. People who served for their country find themselves helpless and moneyless when they become veterans. It is indeed hard for them to find a new job, while these people are used to work all the time. Another concern is that suicides in the military group have the risk of creating the cluster effect. It means that other soldiers with weak psychology may follow the example of the victim in their group.
Therefore, the main priority now is to prevent the increasing tendency of military suicides among active-duty soldiers and veterans. The assistance should be provided on multiple levels. Family level should ensure that soldier or former soldier gets enough of support from his or her loved ones and feels loved and needed. Community level should provide former soldiers with feelings of respect and make community value the sacrifice that military personnel make every time or the conditions in which soldiers serve the Motherland. The hard work and the possible consequence of operations should be respected by every member of society. The government should ensure that no discrimination is made to former or current military personnel. They should be granted with standards of living that are worthy of people who risk their lives for the safety of others. However, the greatest work should be made by psychologists and sociologists that should be able to detect potential victim and prevent this attempt. Moreover, they should make a person believe that his or her life is valued and needed, persuade that he or she should forgive him or herself, or train them how to live with trauma (StopSoldierSuicide, n.d.).
References
Allen, Frances. (2016). The Epidemic of Military Suicide. ProQuest Central. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1151085871?accountid=12085
Bryan, A., Theriault, J. & Bryan, C. (2015). Self-Forgiveness, Posttraumatic Stress, and Suicide Attempts Among Military Personnel and Veterans. American Psychological Association: Traumatology, 21(1), 40-46.
Lineberry, T. & O’Connour, S. (2012). Suicide in the US Army. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from www.mayoclinicproceedings.org
Rudd, M. D., Bryan, C. J., Wetenberger, E.G., Peterson, A.L., Young-McCaughan, S., Mintz, J., , Bruce, T.O. (2015). Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Effects on Post-Treatment Suicide Attempts in a Military Sample: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial With 2-Year Follow-Up. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(5), 441- 449.
StopSoldierSuicide. (n.d.). Our Approach. Retrieved from http://stopsoldiersuicide.org/about/our-approach/
