1. In the United States (U.S.), approximately 42,773 Americans die by suicide each year.1 This has become a huge problem not only in the U.S. but also in the military, specifically the Air Force (AF). Suicides are a huge problem in the AF and this issue needs to be address. Some possible solutions are administering mental health screenings yearly and making it mandatory for supervisors to randomly give their subordinates monthly mental screenings. The best solution for this issue would be developing a more extensive background check to aid in figuring out a recruit’s mental status before they enter the military.
2. The current AF prevention tactics are not enough to combat the current rise of suicides. Suicides have become an epidemic for the AF. In 2014, the AF accounted for 59 suicides, which was the most since the early 2000s when the organization first began tracking these incidents.2 There are many reasons
…show more content…
It is clear that the AF needs to do more to decrease the suicide rate. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Cody has previously stated that the AF is not doing enough to bring down the suicide rate.2 A prominent solution would be to produce a more extensive background check to combat the rising suicide rates in the AF. A House bill, sponsored by Representative Glenn Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican. proposed that the National Institutes of Health would create a universal mental health evaluation that would thoroughly inspect recruits’ past for mental disorders and mental health issues.5 The new mental health evaluation would be a lot more invasive, and would dig further into a new recruit’s past in efforts to weed out any potential recruits who have attempted suicide. It would also explore if the member has had any mental disorders before they have the chance to be accepted into the AF. With an increase in testing for current Airman, and a more thorough mental health screening for recruits, the suicide rates among Airman would
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
Authorities not even aware of the spike in suicides in the 2/7 deployment. The Department of Veterans Affairs said that they don’t track suicide trends amount veterans of specific military units. The resulting suicide rate for the group is nearly four times the rate for young male veterans as a whole, and fourteen times that for all Americans.
Regardless of the numbers, or rates, one Veteran suicide is one too many. The VA and many other prominent veteran organizations, military leaders, and community leaders, continue to spread the word that “Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s responsibility.” The VA continues to address Veterans’ needs through strategic partnerships with community and federal partners and seeks to enhance these partnerships. However, the core issues are not being solved. The government or its administrative entities will not be able to solve the veteran suicide crisis. The VA’s negligent record of mismanagement, patient abuse, nepotism, and outright bullying and suppression of whistleblowers, speaks for
In their study, Zivin et al. (2007) revealed that according to the Veterans Health Study, the prevalence of significant depressive symptoms among veterans is 31%. This is two to five times higher than that of the general US population. Of the 807,694 veterans included in their study, 1,683 (0.21%) committed suicide during the study period. Increased suicide risks were observed among male, younger, and non-Hispanic White patients. PTSD with comorbid depression was associated with lower suicide rates, and younger depressed veterans with PTSD had a higher suicide rate than did older depressed veterans with PTSD (Zivin et al.,
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.
One great example is how the military has attacked a serious epidemic in the military today. Sui-cide prevention is at every leader’s doorstep. There are numerous programs the military adapted to combat suicides. One example is Ask, Care, Escort (ACE) , this programs is set for three hours, however it gives soldiers tools to help a soldier in need. Understanding what steps to take is significant in preventing suicides. The Army realized having the resources, knowledge and skill set to intervene in lowering suicides is the key to success. One example “Methods: Educa-tion, identification, and intervention programs were implemented at each phase of the deploy-ment cycle based on the specific unit activities and predicted stressors. Results: During the de-ployment, there was an annual suicide rate of 16/100,000 within the trial cohort, compared to a theater rate of 24/100,000. Peaks in suicidal ideation and behaviors occurred during months two, six, and twelve of deployment. Conclusions: A deployment cycle prevention program may de-crease rates of suicide in the combat environment. This program may serve as a model for other suicide prevention programs” (Warner,et al.,2011). With the training, the military provided a so-lution, asking a soldier directly how they are feeling when the see symptoms of suicide behavior. Army leaders called for the support and training resource for their soldiers due to a negative trend, commands at all levels to include the medical fields came together to form ACE. One of the key selection points on the training targets was a leader recommendation of eighteen to twen-ty five year olds. Leaders observed this was the target age, soldiers stay together in the same age groups, training that age group is key in combatting suicides. Military One Source is another program leaders asked for to support soldiers when they need to combat depression.
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.
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.
My first research question is what causes some veterans to commit suicide. I have found a lot of answers to this question regarding why veterans commit suicide. I have found that this issue can be caused by untreated mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and uncontrollable anger. Other causes for veterans' suicide include survivor's guilt and substance abuse. The two main sources this information comes from are articles from a GALE database. The first article is titled Suicide Rate Reflects Toll of Army Life. This article has given me some insight about mental illnesses and how they affect soldiers. The second article is titled Shocking Suicide Toll on Combat Veterans. It has expanded my knowledge of depressed veterans
On the night of March 20th, 2012, a twenty-three year old veteran named William Busbee, locked himself in his car and shot himself in the head. His mother and two little sisters were standing just a few feet away (Multiple Deployments). A veteran commits suicide every eighty minutes. If that number is not shocking to hear then I don’t know what is. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a major factor in this mass suicide of veterans. Suicide among veterans is turning into an epidemic. An epidemic that can be stopped with the help of experienced and educated psychologists. Those psychologists are working hard everyday with veterans who are suffering from PTSD in an attempt to cure and potentially rid the patient of this disorder. Maybe
A service member’s emotional and psychological issues are not like malfunctions of a piece of equipment and must not be treated as a troubleshooting problem in a technical manual. And yet this seems to be the only way the military, as a whole, knows how to address the issue of a service members mental health. It requires a holistic approach that is not currently embraced by the military. Historically, the military has been ill-equipped to handle the shifting nature of the psychological issues created by introducing a service member to the battlefield.
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
Mental health is an up and coming issue that is being brought to the attention of health care professionals more and more each day. The United States military personnel are ones who often experience mental health problems, like PTSD (Post traumatic Stress disorder) and MDD (Major depressive disorder) due to being in the military. However, research has shown that the military health system has been faulty at determining mental health issues within their healthcare system which has led to increased suicide rates. The question is for active military or veterans, does early screening and a prevention plan help prevent suicide among these members?
Active Duty Service Members. Traditionally, the U.S. military has faced lower suicide rates compared to their civilian counterparts. However, the suicide rate among active duty military personnel has increased in the last decade, almost doubling in the Army and Marine Corps. Unlike the low active duty suicide rates of Vietnam, OEF/OIF active duty suicide rates are at near record highs (McCarl, 2013). Once again, it is believed that multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan is one of the culprits of this staggering statistic. Since operations has begun in the Middle East in 2001 through 2011, there have been 2,810 military personnel who have committed suicide while on active duty (McCarl, 2013).
This writing supplies statistical data in regard to veterans suicide, but also goes on to question not only why this is happening, but what is causing it. I found it very helpful for the purpose of my writing to draw on the information provided such as, “Army infantrymen and combat engineers killed themselves at substantially higher rates before and after deployment than while stationed overseas. A sensation-seeking personality or other background characteristics may serve these soldiers well in war zones, but boost the odds that they’ll become suicidal before and after their tours of duty, suggests Harvard psychologist and study coauthor Matthew Nock.” I located this article using the EBSCO Host web site academic search under “Veteran