The Causes of Suicide in the Military - Research Paper Example

?The Causes of Suicide in the Military According to Kube and Johnson (2009), “At least 128 soldiers were confirmed to have killed themselves in 2008,compared with 115 in 2007, 102 in 2006 and 87 in 2005, the Army said Thursday. Last year’s figure is likely to rise even higher, because the Army is investigating at least 15 other deaths as possible suicides” (Kube and Johnson). Burns & Mahalik (2011) pointed out that “approximately 300 active-duty servicemen died by suicide in 2009, a population-adjusted death rate exceeding that of civilians” (Burns & Mahalik p.347). The following graph illustrates the suicide trends among American military personnel from 2003 to 2008. (Alvarez) It is evident from the graph that the suicide rate has been almost doubled in 2008 compared to the 2003 statistics. In any case, one thing is for sure; suicide rates among American military personnel are growing rapidly in recent times because of various reasons. Even though military authorities are trying hard to reduce the suicide rates among soldiers, so far they failed to do so because of the complex reasons associated with suicides in military. This paper analyses the causes and effects of suicides in American military. Suicide rates among American military personnel have been more than that among American civilians in recent times. The above fact clearly suggests that there should be some specific reasons to the increased suicide rates among soldiers. The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide proposes that three necessary factors are needed to die by suicide: feelings that one does not belong with other people, feelings that one is a burden on others or society, and an acquired capability to overcome the fear and pain associated with suicide (Bryan, et al. p.1044). Feelings that one does not belong with other people seems to be the major reason for increasing suicide rates among soldiers. It should be noted that military personnel forced to lead a peculiar type of life unlike others. Discipline is one of the major objectives of military life and soldiers forced to undergo a life which is tightened by the screws of discipline. It is impossible for them to stay with their wives or family while they are on duty. They will get only a couple of month per year to stay with their family which is insufficient for them to settle their mental stress. Socializing is an essential activity required for each human being to maintain a stable mental health. Military life provides less diversity for socializing activities. It should be noted that in normal life a person’s socializing habits takes place in a diverse environment; socializing with family members, socializing with relatives, socializing with peers, socializing with opposite sex, socializing with friends etc. On the other hand, in military life, socializing is only a one way traffic; socializing between the soldiers and that also only on specific occasions. Thus feelings of loneliness or feelings that one does not belong with other people may increase among soldiers, which may finally develop frustrations and subsequent suicide attempts. Feeling of unworthiness or feeling that one is a burden on others or society is another reason for suicide tendency among soldiers. As mentioned earlier, military life provides only limited opportunities for family life as far as a soldier is concerned. A soldier may not be able to fulfill his family and social commitments while working in the military. The failure to fulfill these commitments may generate feeling of unworthiness among soldiers. Such feelings can also cause the development of suicide tendency. Acquired capability to overcome the fear and pain associated with suicide is the third major reason for increased suicide rates among military personnel. It should be noted that soldiers are brave people and they are engaged in acts like killing of enemies. In other words, killing or dying is not a fearful act for them. Thus when the feeling of unworthiness develops, soldiers are not hesitant in committing suicide. Army Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said active-duty service members were under tremendous strain. “They’ve lost buddies; they’ve been exposed to the most corrosive environment known to warfare — physically, psychologically, spiritually and morally” (Kube and Johnson). Post-traumatic stress disorder is another major reason for increased suicide rate among American soldiers. It should be noted that war on terror is currently going on in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. All these wars are causing killing of terrorists as well as innocent people. Majority of the American soldiers have strong faith in God and Christianity. So these killings often generate a feeling of sin in their minds. Christianity condemns all types of killing and it teaches that revenge is meant only for the God. In other words, Christians believe that only the creator has the authority to take the life he created. However, circumstances force American soldiers to commit sins like killing of enemies in order to safeguard the interests of their mother country. These guilty feelings can often take the form of psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and subsequent development of suicide tendency among soldiers. Researchers who have examined military suicides find not a single precipitating event but many: multiple deployments, relationship problems, financial pressures, drug or alcohol abuse. If decades of studies on civilian suicides are any indication, soldiers who kill themselves are also likely to have a history of emotional troubles like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or another illness (Goode). Alcoholism is common in military life. Soldiers often take shelter in alcohols and drugs to get rid of their painful emotions. Alcoholism and drug abuse often develop the suicide tendency because of the psychological changes these habits can generate in the minds of the soldiers. American military service is not much attractive as far as the compensation is concerned. Global financial crisis has created lot of problems in American social life. The salaries of the soldiers are not sufficient enough to meet their family expenses. Soldiers may develop a feeling that military life is providing nothing in response to the sacrifice of their personal life. Such feelings will develop depression and other psychological problems in the minds of soldiers. The relationships between a soldier and his wife may not be so good under normal circumstances. Strained relationships may create problems in the family life of the soldiers. Wives of soldiers often get frustrated because of the absence of their husbands with them. Absence of husbands may force the wives of soldiers to establish illegal relationships with others. Such things will create more pressure in the minds of the soldier. In short, military life often spoils the relationships between a soldier and his beloved ones. Strained relationships often force the soldiers to kill themselves. Reports indicate that suicide in the U.S. military has increased significantly in recent years. This increase has been attributed to a number of factors, including more frequent deployments, more relaxed screening of recruits, combat trauma, economic difficulty amongst soldiers, and the breakdown of interpersonal relationships. The socio-cultural environment of the military itself is also causing heavily to suicides in military (Braswell & Kushner, p.530). It should be noted that war on terror is currently going on at different parts of the world and American soldiers are facing frequent deployments at these war fronts. The movement of soldiers from one place to another is causing huge problems to the soldiers. They forced to suffer all these discomforts because of the tight discipline observed in military. Socio-cultural environment in the military is not much encouraging to the soldiers. US soldiers are getting fewer opportunities to engage in cultural activities. For example, the birthday of beloved ones is often celebrated by a soldier in his military barracks. It is difficult for a soldier to get an opportunity to attend a wedding or birthday ceremony in his house. As mentioned earlier, tight discipline prevent soldiers from behaving like friends in military barracks. Officers will enforce strong controls in military barracks so that soldiers forced to lead a mechanic life. Since human is a creature with filled with emotions, it is difficult for him to lead a mechanical life. Failure in leading a normal human life motivates soldiers to finish their life. Despite a growing body of literature highlighting the adverse consequences of men's adherence to traditional masculine norms on their physical and emotional health, little attention has been paid to the contributions of compliance with these norms on current and former male military personnel's risk for suicide (Burns & Mahalik p.347) Men and women are different both genetically and emotionally. The feelings of the men and that of women are entirely different. Men are much stronger than females and their physical strength help them to undertake hard or risky activities. Same way men are tougher than females emotionally. Amidst all these differences between men and women, it should be noted that men are humans; not animals. It is difficult for them to lead a life of killing and attacking of enemies all the time. They always like to lead a normal life just like others. Circumstances might have forced them to accept military life. The failure to lead a normal life may force soldiers to commit suicides. Lack of training or ineffective training is another major reason for increased suicide rates among military personnel. Current military training is ineffective in building mental strength among soldiers. It is giving more emphasize to build physical health and fitness rather than mental health and emotional stability. Military personnel are getting training to handle guns and other weapons; however, they are not getting enough training to get rid of their emotional trauma while facing tougher situations. American military training needs to be thoroughly restructured in order to make the soldiers capable of handling emotional pressures. Carr (2011) mentioned that “the effects of the soldier's suicide showed a stigmatization of the survivors. There were additional repercussions, including the impact on the soldier's peers within his unit and other soldiers on the base, the need for medical evacuation from Iraq of soldiers following the event, and the reported stress on the medical staff due to the attempted resuscitation of someone known to them (Carr, p.95). Many people have the false belief that the suicide of a soldier may affect only his family members. In fact, it affects his fellow soldiers more than his family members. For a soldier, military barrack is his house and fellow soldiers are his family members. So the suicide of a soldier may be taken as the suicide of one of the family members by the soldiers. It should be noted that soldiers spent majority of their times with fellow soldiers than with their family members and therefore the relationships among the soldiers are extremely strong. Soldiers often exchange their sorrows and worries which further strengthen their relationships. All these facts clearly suggest that the suicide of a soldier may create enormous pressure among fellow soldiers. To conclude, suicide rates among American soldiers are growing rapidly over the last couple of decades. As in the case of other suicides, feelings that one does not belong with other people, feelings that one is a burden on others or society, and an acquired capability to overcome the fear and pain are encouraging soldiers to commit suicide to escape from a world which is not giving them enough opportunities to lead a normal life. Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other psychological problems may often develop among soldiers who are continuously exposed to war environments. These psychological problems can often lead soldiers towards suicide. Strained family relationships and lack of family life also encourages soldiers to finish their life. Alcoholism and drug abuse other major reasons which encourage soldiers to commit suicide. Suicides of soldiers create lot of problems not only in his family, but also in military barracks. A strong emotional bonding exists between soldiers because of their continuous and longer interactions. In short, suicides among soldiers can destroy the morale of the military in general and that of the fellow soldiers and family members in particular. Works Cited Alvarez, Lizette. “Suicides of Soldiers Reach High of Nearly 3 Decades”. The New York Times January 29, 2009. Bryan, Craig J., Cukrowicz, Kelly C., West, Christopher L. & Morrow, Chad E. Combat Experience And The Acquired Capability For Suicide”. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Oct2010, Vol. 66 Issue 10, p1044-1056, Braswell H & Kushner HI. “Suicide, social integration, and masculinity in the U.S. military. Social Science & Medicine, 2012 Feb; Vol. 74 (4). EBSCOHost Burns, Shaun Michael & Mahalik, James R. “Suicide And Dominant Masculinity Norms Among Current And Former United States Military Servicemen”. 2011. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol 42(5), Oct, 2011. pp. 347-353. Carr, Russell B. “When a Soldier Commits Suicide in Iraq: Impact on Unit and Caregivers”. 2011. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, Summer2011, Vol. 74 Issue 2, p95-106 Goode, Erica. “After Combat, Victims of an Inner War”. The New York Times August 1, 2009 Kube, Courtney and Johnson, Alex. “Suicides Continue Alarming Rise in Military Army Schedules Service-wide ‘Stand-down’ to Train all Soldiers”.2009. Web. 12 February 2012. Read More