Suicide in the U.S. Military - Research Paper Example

? Suicide in the U.S. Military Larry Barras U.S. Capstone SOC 490  Prof. Bill Stiener August 2, This research report explores and highlights the dilemma that the United States DoD (Department of Defense) encounters as Post Trauma Stress Disorders when its personnel have to succumb to continuous multiple deployments without any substantial breaks. This issue of multiple deployments is being faced by the US marines mainly since the onset of the Afghanistan war about a decade back. Being deployed repeatedly into foreign warzones, the Army seems to have shown a major increase in the trend of suicide among its mariners as compared to the statistics of the earlier years. The background of the suicidal dilemma under discussion is expressed through the studies conducted in the respective area so far. U.S. armed forces have been continuously in a state of war around the globe since late 2001. The most notable war zones have been Iraq and Afghanistan. These engagements have demanded an extensive price in terms of death toll that is expected to be far higher than the published figures. The stress that is developed due to recurring deployments becomes noticeable in many ways. Alleviating divorce rate, manhandling, child or spouse abuse and substance abuse are some of the demonstrations. However, the most worrying factor is suicide. The growing rate of suicide in defense personnel especially marines and deployed combat forces is alarming for both the governmental authorities and general public. Multiple studies have been conducted in this regard to curb the identified causes in order to reduce the rate of suicide in U.S. military. The strategies employed so far are not proved to be very effective according to Stars and Stripes (2012) that quoted The Associated Press. This report emphasizes on self care promotion strategies and, revival of social and moral concepts/norms in order to promote self awareness. Introduction and Background Introduction Wars are never easy for nations. Though it may be the governments who have their monetary assets at stake but it actually are the army men. The grounds men who are fighting the wars for their nations are the most cherished assets for each country. The US Marines have had a number of challenges in the past few decades. The most recent and the most challenging of fronts that they have had to fight their foes on is the Afghan and Iraq deployment. There has been a challenging outcome of the most recent deployments. The US marine personnel have been observed to have faced recent multiple deployments have become subject to multiple mental and psychological problems in the recent years among which suicide have the highest trend. Though the number of personnel being affected physically is much lesser than those in the earlier wars fought by the US but the psychological states of army men facing multiple deployments are far worse. Psychologically disturbing factors such as watching fellow men in distress and hurt or undergoing physical and mental traumas are just one of the numerous factors. Relative to the recent past, the army has faced the highest number of suicides by serving individuals in the year 2009. The report is attempted to dig into the causes of these psychological issues and provide proposed remedy for them. Background The endeavors of the US army over Iraq and Afghanistan have gone way beyond a span of continuous nine years now. The resultant of this continuous combat is the increasing concern of mounting stress on U.S. forces after having served continuously in multiple war zones. All services, specifically the army and the Marine Corps have experienced an increasing inclination towards suicide, with the latter being more prone to it having been subject to combat the most in the past years. The resultant is the record of the largest number of suicides in the year 2009. Serious efforts by the U.S. DOD (Department of Defense) are now being carried out in order to take care of this mounting issue of increasing suicides. Specific prevention campaigns are being run by each service under the DoD. It is for this purpose that a meeting is held every month in which a DoD –wide committee and other concerned agencies share their information relative to suicides. An annual conference, under the auspices of the DoD, is held on suicide prevention. This conference is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs as well. A large number of DoD representatives, as well as behavioral health care providers attend this conference. Study Purpose The recent surge in the rate of suicide among U.S. Marines triggered the U.S. gurus to ask the question that what more could be done to reduce the number of suicide among servicemen. As an initial degree response to this query this study is being carried out. The objective of this study may be outlined in the following few steps: Reviewing the most recent evidences of specifying suicide epidemiology among U.S. service men of the Marines. Introduction and identification of the most modern and state of the art programs for suicide prevention. The suicide prevention activities in the DoD and other services and cataloged and described. Ensuring that the practices adopted by the DoD and other services are relevant and are rather the best practices that can be thought of. Since the DoD is specifically concerned the most about the increasing number of suicides, thus the focus of our study would also be the same. Off and on, however, other resultants of multiple deployments would also be discussed. If relevant, some information may also be discussed about suicidal behaviors that are non-fatal, and also the outcomes of the suicide prevention programs. Variables The data that is acquired for this research is secondary in nature. The respective sources of data are mentioned accordingly. First hand data was not obtainable due to the unavailability of respective sample. The study mainly focuses on Post Trauma Stress Disorders due to multiple deployments that ended up in suicide. The data that is considered for analysis is based on the same factor. The past of DoD personnel who committed suicide generally indicates that they had been exposed to multiple combat deployments. The statistics gathered are therefore comprised of two main variables that are “number of suicide per year” and “rate of suicide per year” (see Appendix A, Table 1.0.). These variables indicate the respective suicide toll over the past eight years i.e. through 2001 – 2008. Review of the Literature The situation so far can be narrated through the statistics originally presented by RAND (2011) and are added here as Appendix A, Table 1.0. The figures highlight a clear inclination in the rate of suicides in U.S. Military through the period of 2001 – 2010. According to the unofficial statistic the rate continued with the same trend till 2012. The latest of which are reported by Thompson (2012) and Carden(2009). The Stars and Stripes (2012) quoted associated press by saying that, “Earlier this month the AP also reported that suicides were surging among active servicemembers this year, at a rate of almost one every day. The Pentagon statistics referenced said there were 154 active-duty troop suicides in the first 155 days of the year” Stars and Stripes (2012). Figure 1.0 asserts the inclined trend with coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.84) with the passage of time. This highlights that trend progresses with a higher strength of determination. Figure 1.0 Another comparison is highlighted through the respective suicide figures by year in Figure 1.1. The respective illustration through its first two columns indicates collective figures for the periods of 2001 – 2008 and 2001 – 2006. The rest of the columns clearly depict a rising trend over the passage of time. Figure 1.1 Discussion Military men facing Suicidal trend. Synthetic population rates seem higher than they may be in general population. The reason for this change in numbers is that the former mainly are DoD’s service members demographic profiles. These service members are mainly males. There also lies the fact that there is an increasing trend of suicide in men rather than in women in the U.S. Therefore it becomes clear why the trend of suicide in this category is higher than for the overall population of the country. The Risk Factor A number of scientific researches over the past years have tried to evaluate the categories in which those attempting suicide may fall. These categories may be narrated as follows: Suicide Attempt History Those having attempted a failed suicide once are higher at risk of having attempted it again. This is a hard fact even though first attempts of suicide are enough for a number of individuals since those attempts are successful. Mental Health Issues Mental disorders have begun to become increasingly popular among human beings nowadays. Acute mental health problems like Schizophrenia rise in individuals who have been rejected from the military at any point in their military career. This is the reason why individuals suffering from mental health issues are not of much concern for the military. The above fact was nullified in the case of recent multiple deployments. Even though the army men did not face any rejection from their job depression and anxiety have been observed to be major concerns of the population of the army men serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is also a relevant mental health condition with respect to these army men. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) around 4 percent of the individuals suffering from depression are at a risk of suicide. Surveys conducted on the level of communities however reveal that patients suffering from PTSD have shown to have more past suicide attempts than normal individuals. Substance Abuse People who are suffering from substance abuse such as that of alcohol and other drugs are at an increased risk of suicidal attempts. The type of drug being taken as substance abuse also affects suicide attempt chances. Since the military is devoid of drug abuse owing to periodic screening, army men mostly face alcohol substance abuse. Approximately 20 percent of service members have been shown to have indulged in heavy alcohol usage. Traumatic Brain Injury Persons suffering from Traumatic brain injury and cerebral contusions etc are prone to have a higher rate of suicidal attempts than the normal population. Military personnel having sustained blasts during their mission have increased chances of suffering from TBI. Other Psychological issues Other than substance abuse and TBI some common psychological disorder may become a reason for suicidal attempts. These disorders may be named as Hopelessness, Aggression and Deficit of Problem Solving capability etc. Army men suffering from above mentioned disorders are at a higher risk of suicide attempt. Events of Life Some major turning points in life like the death of a beloved or turning points in relationships may prove to be traumatic for certain individuals. Such army men may attempt suicide since certain behavioral problems are already present in army men. The behavioral problems, when combined with traumatic life events, many result is drastic risk for suicide attempts. Availability of firearms The possession of a weapon such as a personal pistol or rifle by army men may prove to be an increased risk for suicidal attempts. This is one of the most lethal ways suicide may be attempted. Suicide News Suicide clusters have been reported in the past. The news of a suicide often triggers occurrence of other suicides. Thus media that reports suicides everyday are a threat to people rather than serving them with timely news. Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusion Following six major domains are identified that can be worked upon and are likely to achieve positive results if applied. 1. Self care awareness promotion. 2. Preemptive identification of personnel with high risk potential. 3. Identification programs for those who are in need of care. 4. Easy access to quality care. 5. Formulation of restrictive protocols in order to limit the access to fire arms. 6. Establishment of a quick responsive mechanism for suicides or attempts. Recommendations The recommendations are as follows, A consistent and systematic tracking program must be deployed in order to track the suicidal attempts instantly and to explore the reasons behind such attempts. The existing strategies must be evaluated and to avoid future mistakes an automatic evaluation must be a part of every deployed strategy. Self care and Self awareness should be deployed through invoking sense of morality, social sense, sense of responsibility and religious norms. During employment a strong partnership bond must be established between the personnel and higher authorities. Introduction of specially trained people as gate keepers that keep a track of what is going on inside. Research through surveillance must be employed. Careful and detailed assessment of personnel before and after each deployment should be in place. Before hand briefing of combat tours and likely psychological disorders must be taken care of. Better provision of contact with the family through video conferencing and new technology. Family meeting zones are to be established nearby the military facility in case of highly disturbed personnel. References Landrum, R.E. (2012). Research and writing in the social sciences. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Ramchand R., Acosta J., Burns R. M., Jaycox L. H. & Pernin C. G. (2011). The War Within: Preventing Suicide in U.S. Military. RAND Center for Military Health and Policy Research. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG953.pdf Stars and Stripes. (June 2012). VA Looks to Technology for Suicide Prevention. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://www.stripes.com/news/us/va-looks-to-technology-for-suicide-prevention-1.180932. Thompson M. (June 2012). Captains Courageous. Time. Retrieved from http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/07/12/captains-courageous/ Carden M. J. (2009). Army Suicide Rate Increases Five Straight Years. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57086. Appendix A Table 1.0 Suicide Count and Rate per 100,000 in the Department of Defense and for Each Service, 2001–2008 DoD Army Navy Air Force Marines Year N Rate N Rate N Rate N Rate N Rate 2001– 2008 1,609 12.1 712 13.1 325 10.5 331 10.3 241 15.4 2001– 2006 1,117 11.2 457 11.6 244 10.2 250 10.1 166 14.6 2001 160 10.3 52 9.0 40 10.0 38 9.7 30 16.7 2002 171 10.3 70 11.5 45 10.9 33 7.4 23 12.5 2003 190 11.0 79 11.4 44 10.8 41 9.6 26 13.4 2004 194 11.3 67 9.6 40 10.0 53 12.6 34 17.5 2005 189 11.3 87 12.7 37 9.5 37 9.3 28 14.4 2006 213 13.1 102 15.3 38 10.1 48 12.2 25 12.9 2007 224 13.8 115 16.7 40 11.1 36 9.5 33 16.5 2008 268 16.3 139 19.3 41 11.7 46 12.6 42 19.9 SOURCE: Mortality Surveillance Division, Armed Forces Medical Examiner (as of April 1, 2010) (RAND MG953, 2011) Read More