Suicides In The Military Reduction Program
Working draft outline
Background
I would like to express and share some of my thoughts on the subject of alarming increase in the rate of suicide in the military. I hope that some of the ideas described in these notes might be helpful to those involved in this field and might contribute to improvement in providing adequate and efficient mental health services to those who put their lives and their wellbeing on line for us every day and to whom we owe so much.
I would like to mention one of the aspects of this problem, which has, it seems to me, a particular significance. It is one of the most difficult, most vexing and most emotionally charged issues: man and his (not "homosexuality", not "heterosexuality", not "bisexuality", but) sexuality and his relations with other men, including his fellow soldiers, his military buddies and brothers in arms, both "straight" and "gay", and women; under the strains of the buffed up macho culture and the cult of heterosexual masculinity. Looks like a hard nut to crack, but in fact it should not be and it is not. We came to deal with this when the issue confronted us upfront, in crisis; unprepared, surprised and puzzled, while it should have been foreseen.
It seems to me that the broadly based joint workgroup with the participation of the best and most experienced minds from the military, intelligence communities and academia would be best equipped to handle the problems of suicide, self-injurious and other abnormal psychosocial behaviors in the military service.
All possible causal relationships should be explored without any cognitive or other biases, but at this point the hypothesis of the leading role of intrapsychic conflict due to changes in the environment and attitudes after the implementation of the latest policies seems to be the most likely cause, simply because there is nothing else that could account for this relatively recent and rather significant increase in the rate of suicides in the peacetime.
The work on analysis of cases and determination of causes should proceed simultaneously with the implementation of regular, monthly or quarterly computerised psychological testing and counselling, and refining the policies and rules on personnel behavior and conduct, on eclectic basis, regardless of working hypotheses and assumptions which might or might not be confirmed in the process of collection and analysis of data.
If the sufficient data is accumulated to refute this hypothesis and come up with the different or additional set of explanations, it can always be done; no one is married to his ideas or chained to them.
Statistics (including lies and damn lies)
____________________________________________________
The following psychometric instruments should be developed and implemented.
- SISTER: Suicidal Ideation Screening Tests - Electronic Reports
- Overt suicidal ideation
- Suicidal ideation on projective tests
- Depression, the same; overt and on projective tests
- Latent psychoticism
- Signs of intrapsychic conflict
- Impulsivity
- Symptoms and signs of social withdrawal and isolation
- Etc.
- Objective structured interviews or assessments, mirroring the items of suicidal ideation self-report test should also be developed and implemented.
- Self-injurious - suicidal behavior assessment scale
Self-injurious behavior of various severity (mild - moderate - severe) - partial or uncompleted suicides - completed suicides.
- Sexual Awareness Scale
(Latent Homosexuality Scale): - overt sexual preference self-identification, penile tumescence platismography score, sexual preference self-report and projective tests, the degree of latency and its correlation with the depth of conflict, correlations with personality characteristics and demographic data/background, etc. Two versions: for men and women.
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It is a well known phenomenon, that an abstract love for the country is transformed into a concrete emotional attachment to your fellow soldier, your military buddy. Sometimes and under certain circumstances this emotional attachment can be sexualised (sexualisation can be viewed as a complex psychological "defense mechanism", apparently employed by psyche to reduce, modulate, channel and socialise the intense emotions, sometimes with "secondary gains", and sometimes to reduce hostility), "physicalised", transformed into sexual longing, since sexuality and emotional life in humans are inseparable. Sexualisation might also serve to diminish the intensity of emotional longing or attachment if they are felt as excessive, threatening to person's autonomy and independence. It defends against these threats by depreciating and degrading the object and by turning it into a simplified dehumanised sexual object, possibly and sometimes with violent and aggressive overtones, which might create the additional confusion, tension and panic due to incomprehensibility and unacceptability of these complex, contradictory and overwhelming emotions.
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Quote:
"Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument (object) towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive. Objectification more broadly is an attitude that regards a person as a commodity or as an object for use, with little or no regard for a person's personality or sentience.[1][2] Objectification is most commonly examined at a societal level, but can also arise at an individual level."
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This leads to the so called "intrapsychic conflict": a person who identifies himself as "heterosexual" and maintains overtly heterosexual lifestyle might feel very disturbed, alarmed and panicked by these feelings, especially if he experiences some preexisting latent homosexual impulses, and especially when he sees some of his comrades living an open and now "legitimised" "gay" lifestyle. This situation is further compounded by the utmost privacy of the issues involved: he cannot talk and share his feelings and his emotional state with anyone and, just opposite, is forced to hide and to mask them. This creates an intense psychic tension, pain, the feelings of guilt, shame and self-blame; depression and, eventually suicidal thoughts.
It is very unlikely that these psychodynamics will lead to overt suicidal behavior in and by themselves, since the healthy psyche, guided by a healthy and naturally strong self-preservation instinct has an enormous capacity for compensation and dealing with the most difficult and trying conflicts; but in combination with the preexisting psychopathology and other noxious factors and stressors, however, they might produce quite a significant disturbance and persistent suicidal ideation.
The similar patterns might apply, in somewhat milder and less intense form to women also, although I think it would be fair to say that the female sexual behavior still is a much uderresearched and almost ignored area and is in need of greater attention than it receives now; especially considering the fact that the role and the presence of women in the military and other forces will increase inevitably, which might gradually change the very structure, character and inner working psychodynamics of these organisations.
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Aggression Turned Inward
Paradoxically, "The Killing Machine" (to use this somewhat awkward but exact metaphor), designed to kill, which is its sole raison d'etre, turns against itself when in inaction, producing little self-destructive explosive discharges in its tiny, almost invisible parts. Aggression, when not discharged outward, turns inward. This phenomenon is present with the certainty of the law of (psycho)mechanics in both animals and animal groups and in humans and their groups, small and large. Individuals, at least some of them, who go into the military service, have a need to discharge their inner aggression, and when it is not discharged properly, might experience problems with self-aggression. One interesting thought logically follows from all of this: if these individuals can be identified, and if these intrapsychic needs of theirs are confirmed, they can be sent into small action fields which will satisfy these needs, will be therapeutic and will increase their overall chances for survival. Be it ironic, paradoxical and almost cynical as it may seem, this line of thought is not without its rational kernel.
Internalisation
Internalised anger, violence, aggression.
- Internalised Aggression Scale
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The overall psychosocial health of military communities (this concept should be theoretically elaborated) can be assessed psychometrically with the help of
- Military Community Psychosocial Health Index
The concept of "goodness of fit", or Military Community (MC) - simply "cohesion" might serve as a basis for the developing the concept of Military Community Psychosocial Health.
Self-injurious - suicidal behavior and the incidents of hostility, violence and aggression towards other members of MC and outside communities (especially the incidents of "fragging" and similar behaviors, which are truly horrifying and extremely sick) should be viewed as symptoms of MC ill health; they should be investigated without any bias, preconceived notions or implications of guilt and the underlying causes should be diagnosed, assessed, evaluated and addressed and treated with both the individual and the psychosocial interventions.
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The Typology of Military Community Ill Health
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Quote:
"According to American Psychological Association empirical evidence fails to show that sexual orientation is germane to any aspect of military effectiveness including unit cohesion, morale, recruitment and retention.[201] Sexual orientation is irrelevant to task cohesion, the only type of cohesion that critically predicts the team's military readiness and success.[202] "
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______________________________________________________
- Attitudes, Policies and Rules
- Psychoeducation and Counselling
- Analysis of military suicides cases
- Search for clusters: more than one suicide and suspicious suicide deaths in any given military community, with the analysis of psychological environment and attitudes in these communities.
- The art and the science of psychological autopsy
- Study of similar experiences in NATO countries military forces, first of all Canada and Great Britain
References and Links
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5:11 PM 10/3/2012
suicide epidemiology
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Scholarly articles for military suicide epidemiology | |
Suicides in the military: 1980–1992. - Helmkamp - Cited by 45
Suicide in the US Army: Epidemiological and periodic … - Rothberg - Cited by 45
Suicide surveillance in the US military—reporting and … - Carr - Cited by 29
| |
Search Results
- [PDF]
The War Within: Preventing Suicide in the U.S. Military
www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/.../2011/RAND_MG953.pdfFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
by P SAFETY - Related articles
Review the current evidence detailing suicide epidemiology in the military. • Identify “best-practice” suicide-prevention programs. • Describe and catalog ... - *
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Since late 2001, U.S. military forces have been engaged in conflicts around the globe, most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. These conflicts have exacted a substantial toll on soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen, and this toll goes beyond the well-publicized casualty figures. It extends to the stress that repetitive deployments can have on the individual servicemember and his or her family. This stress can manifest itself in different ways — increased divorce rates, spouse and child abuse, mental distress, substance abuse — but one of the most troubling manifestations is suicide, which is increasing across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The increase in suicides among members of the military has raised concern among policymakers, military leaders, and the population at large. While DoD and the military services have had a number of efforts under way to deal with the increase in suicides among their members, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs asked RAND to review the current evidence detailing suicide epidemiology in the military, identify "state-of-the-art" suicide-prevention programs, describe and catalog suicide-prevention activities in DoD and across each service, and recommend ways to ensure that the activities in DoD and across each service reflect state-of-the-art prevention science.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 228
- List Price: $28.00
- Paperback Price: $22.40
- Paperback ISBN/EAN: 9780833049711
- Document Number: MG-953-OSD
- Year: 2011
- Series: Monographs
Contents
- Chapter OneIntroduction
- Chapter TwoThe Epidemiology of Suicide in the Military
- Chapter ThreeBest Practices for Preventing Suicide
- Chapter FourSuicide Prevention in the Department of Defense
- Chapter FiveSupport for Suicide Prevention in the Department of Defense
- Chapter SixConclusions and Recommendations
- Appendix AArmy Suicide-Prevention Initiatives
- Appendix BNavy Suicide-Prevention Initiatives
- Appendix CAir Force Suicide-Prevention Initiatives
- Appendix DMarine Corps Suicide-Prevention Initiatives
The research reported here was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The research was conducted jointly by the Center for Military Health Policy Research, a RAND Health program, and the Forces and Resources Policy Center, a RAND National Defense Research Institute (NDRI) program. NDRI is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the OSD, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community.
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This report is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
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The War Within: Preventing Suicide in the U.S. Military | RAND
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onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1987...x/pdfby JM Rothberg - 1987 - Cited by 45 - Related articles
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Epidemiological and Public Health Perspectives in Military Suicide ...
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military suicide epidemilogy
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Military Psychiatry - Google Search
military psychiatrist - Google Search
Fragging - From Wikipedia
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sexualisation as psychological defense mechanism - Google Search
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Quote:
Sexualization
Endowing an object or function with sexual significance that it did not
previously have or possessed to a smaller degree in order to ward off
anxieties associated with prohibited impulses or their derivatives.
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sexualisation as psychological defense mechanism - Google Search
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Quote:
Sexualization
Endowing an object or function with sexual significance that it did not
previously have or possessed to a smaller degree in order to ward off
anxieties associated with prohibited impulses or their derivatives.
Am J Psychoanal. 2011 Sep;71(3):264-77. doi: 10.1057/ajp.2011.23.
Source
Association of Counselling Psychologists, Australia. ruggiero.psychotherapy@gmail.com
Abstract
Sexualization is a defense mechanism frequently referred to in clinical psychoanalytic literature. Despite this, there is no research linking the theoretical nature of this observed phenomenon to social or neurobiological theory. This discussion paper proposes an interaction between social learning and neural maturation in the development of sexualized tendencies. When anxiety within peer interactions is alleviated repeatedly through sexualized behavior, learned associations develop. This explanation allows understanding and empathy for individuals demonstrating a broad spectrum of sexualized responses since such learning is argued to be functional within their historic social climate.
- PMID:
- 21818101
- [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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homosexuality - GS
sexuality continuum - Google Search
"The concept of the heterosexual–homosexual continuum (also referred to as the sexual orientation continuum) is a psychological and philosophical understanding of human sexuality that places sexual orientation on a continuous spectrum from heterosexuality to homosexuality. This concept stems from Alfred Kinsey's 1940s surveys of sexuality; significant numbers of Kinsey's subjects reported bisexuality of varying degrees, rather than the strict heterosexual/homosexual division that had been previously assumed."
"...individuals or members of a community might engage in homosexual behaviors but identify as heterosexual otherwise, such as some people in prison, the military, single sex boarding schools, or other sex-segregated communities."
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latent homosexuality - GS
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understanding latent homosexuality - GS
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latent homosexuality test - GS
latent homosexuality us - GS
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homosexuality us - GS
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homosexuality us military - GS
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latent homosexuality us military - GS
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latent homosexuality us military suicides - GS
Latent homosexuality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Latent homosexuality is an erotic inclination toward members of the same sex that is not consciously experienced or expressed in overt action. This may mean a ...
SISTER: Suicidal Ideation Screening Tests - Behavior and Law
forpn.blogspot.com/2012/09/sister-suicidal-ideation-screening.html4 hours ago – latent homosexuality us military - GS · latent homosexuality us military suicides - GS · us military suicides - GS · us military suicide rate - GS ...Get more results from the past 24 hours
U.S. Navy Submarine Hazing Sparked By Gay Jokes, Homosexuality
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AR 600-110 - Army Publishing Directorate - U.S. Army
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us military suicides - GS
- News for us military suicides
ABC News
USA TODAY‎ - 4 days ago
Panetta says leaders should be held accountable for success in stemming suicide.
Military leaders must help stem suicides, Panetta says
- U.S. Army suicides reached record monthly high in July | Reuters www.reuters.com/.../us-usa-army-suicides-idUSBRE87G0WO201208...
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says military leaders should be held accountable for whether they succeed in helping desperate troops avoid choosing suicide -- which he has described as an epidemic in the military and now averaging more than one a day.
"What I've tried to do, very frankly, is to make sure that not only the secretary (of Defense), but all of the military leadership kick ass on this issue," Panetta told USA TODAY in an interview. "Leaders ought to be judged by how they lead on this issue."
He also said that the last decade of fighting two wars holds "lots of lessons" to be learned about "the human side of this prolonged warfare and how do we get a handle" on problems such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Pentagon is facing a record year of suicides among active-duty troops, averaging 33 deaths per month so far this year, according to Pentagon data through Sept. 2.
"I want to make sure that we are aware of how tragic this problem is and how urgent it is for us to try and address it," Panetta said. "We're talking about men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect this country. We have to do everything possible to try to make sure we protect them."
Panetta spoke on the issue Saturday in part because September is national suicide prevention month.
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are all reporting potentially record increases this year in suicides. The Marine Corps has averaged about two suicides a week in recent months.
Story:Panetta Q and A
But the Army has suffered the highest numbers, tripling its suicide rate from 9.7 cases-per-100,000 in 2004 to 29.1-per-100,000 last month. In July, a record 38 soldiers killed themselves, according to service data.
Among a demographically similar civilian U.S. population, the suicide rate increased from 22-per-100,000 in 2005 to 24-per-100,000 in 2009, the latest data available.
Panetta said the military is still searching for answers to what's happening.
"Part of it, I think, is due to a nation that's been at war for over a decade," he said. "You have repeated deployments and sustained combat exposure to enormous stresses and strains on our troops and on their families that produced a lot of seen and unseen wounds that contribute to the suicide risk."
He said he also believes the military population is sensitive to issues that plague society at large -- substance abuse, financial distress and relationship problems.
Last week, Panetta said, he informed a gathering of top commanders that the problems of suicide and sexual assault are two top priorities.
"Leaders have to be sensitive and got to be aware," he says. "They've got to be open to the signs of stress and they've got to be aggressive in encouraging those that need help to seek that help and be able to receive it. It's important to point out that seeking help is a sign of strength and courage, not weakness."
Gen. Lloyd Austin III, who became the Army's No. 2 officer as vice chief of staff in January, assuming oversight of suicide issues, said Friday that the service culture must change to where soldiers are more comfortable seeking counseling.
"We have to make sure that our troops understand that by taking care of yourself, it's going to help your team and it's also going to enhance your performance," he said.
In an interview with USA TODAY, Austin said the Army is committed to caring for those in need and investing in scientific research that will unlock the causes and prevention of suicide.
But he emphasized that "95% of our population is doing fine. It's operating extremely well. Which is the part we don't talk about on a daily basis."
The veteran combat commander, who served three tours in Iraq and a fourth in Afghanistan, equated suicide with periods of heavy casualties in those wars.
"When you're in a fight like that, I think it's very difficult to figure out, from time to time, exactly where you are," he said.. "But if you stay focused on the right things, eventually you'll see some pretty good results. This (suicide) is kind of like that."
17 Aug 2012 – (Reuters) - Twenty-six active-duty soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in July, more than double the number reported for June and ...
- Army Suicides Doubled Last Month From June's Total www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/.../army-suicides_n_1792372.htm...
- U.S. Military Suicides So Far in 2012: 155 Days, 154 Dead | U.S. ... nation.time.com/2012/06/08/lagging-indicator/
- Suicides at 10-year high in US military | World news | guardian.co.uk www.guardian.co.uk › News › World news › US military
- US military suicides rising, even as combat eases - New York Daily ... articles.nydailynews.com/.../32106988_1_military-suicides-afghan-tr...
- More videos for us military suicides »
- Army suicides hit terrifying peak — RT rt.com/usa/news/army-suicide-soldiers-rate-889/
- Suicides Eclipse War Deaths for U.S. Troops - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com/.../us/suicides-eclipse-war-deaths-for-us-troops.ht...
U.S. Army suicides reached record monthly high in July
By Colleen Jenkins(Reuters) - Twenty-six active-duty soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in July, more than double the number reported for June and the most suicides ever recorded in a month since the U.S. Army began tracking detailed statistics on such deaths.
During the first seven months of this year, there were 116 suspected suicides among active-duty soldiers, compared to 165 suicides for all of last year, the Army said. The military branch reported 12 likely suicides during June.
The monthly totals for 2012 include confirmed suicides and cases still under investigation, the Army said.
Twelve reserve soldiers who were not on active duty also appear to have killed themselves in July, bringing the yearly total for that group to 71 suicides.
The Army, which has collected in-depth monthly suicide data since January 2009, confirmed 118 suicides among members of the branch's National Guard and Reserve components in 2011.
"Suicide is the toughest enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the Army," General Lloyd J. Austin III, vice chief of staff of the Army, said in the report released on Thursday.
"To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills," he said.
The uptick in the number of service members and veterans taking their own lives continues to trouble military leaders.
Testifying before the House of Representatives Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last month described suicide as "one of the most frustrating problems" he had come across in his role.
The Defense Department says it has made suicide prevention a top priority. More behavioral health care providers have been added to front-line units and primary care settings, and leaders are seeking to reduce the stigma associated with mental health treatment.
In a separate report, the Marine Corps recorded eight suspected suicides in July, up from six in June. That brought the number of suicide deaths to 32 for the first seven month of 2012, equal to the 32 total such deaths in 2011 but so far fewer than the 52 suicides recorded in all of 2009.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Xavier Briand)
16 Aug 2012 – The U.S. Army on Thursday reported a record number of suicides in a single month among active duty, Guard and Reserve troops, despite an ...
8 Jun 2012 – New Pentagon data show U.S. troops are killing themselves at the rate of nearly one a day so far in 2012, 18% above 2011's corresponding toll ...
8 Jun 2012 – Suicide is on the rise in the US military, averaging almost one every day, according to statistics.
7 Jun 2012 – WASHINGTON — Suicides are surging among America's troops, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation's decade ...
BBC News - US military suicides on the rise |
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www.bbc.co.uk/.../world-us-canada-188230...
12 Jul 2012 - 3 min
Suicide rates among US soldiers have reached their highest rate since the beginning of the Afghanistan war ... |
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U.S. military suicide rate doubles for July - CBS News |
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www.cbsnews.com/.../u.s-military-suicide-ra...
16 Aug 2012
U.S. military suicide rate doubles for July. (CBS). (AP) WASHINGTON - Suicides among active-duty soldiers ... |
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17 Aug 2012 – The suicide rate among U.S. military personnel is reaching a new high, according to official statistics.
8 Jun 2012 – Suicides have increased even as the United States military has withdrawn from Iraq and stepped up efforts to provide mental health, drug and ...
- More US military suicides than combat deaths in 2012
Suicides Outpacing War Deaths for Troops
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
The suicide rate among the nation’s active-duty military personnel has spiked this year, eclipsing the number of troops dying in battle and on pace to set a record annual high since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more than a decade ago, the Pentagon said Friday.
Suicides have increased even as the United States military has withdrawn from Iraq and stepped up efforts to provide mental health, drug and alcohol, and financial counseling services.
The military said Friday that there had been 154 suicides among active-duty troops through Thursday, a rate of nearly one each day this year. The figures were first reported this week by The Associated Press.
That number represents an 18 percent increase over the 130 active-duty military suicides for the same period in 2011. There were 123 suicides from January to early June in 2010, and 133 during that period in 2009, the Pentagon said.
By contrast, there were 124 American military fatalities in Afghanistan as of June 1 this year, according to the Pentagon.
Suicide rates of military personnel and combat veterans have risen sharply since 2005, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan intensified. Recently, the Pentagon established a Defense Suicide Prevention Office.
On Friday, Cynthia Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said the Pentagon had sought to remind commanders that those who seek counseling should not be stigmatized.
“This is a troubling issue, and we are committed to getting our service members the help they need,” she said. “I want to emphasize that getting help is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength.”
In a letter to military commanders last month, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said that “suicide prevention is a leadership responsibility,” and added, “Commanders and supervisors cannot tolerate any actions that belittle, haze, humiliate or ostracize any individual, especially those who require or are responsibly seeking professional services.”
But veterans’ groups said Friday that the Pentagon had not done enough to moderate the tremendous stress under which combat troops live, including coping with multiple deployments.
“It is clear that the military, at the level of the platoon, the company and the battalion, that these things are not being addressed on a compassionate and understanding basis,” said Bruce Parry, chairman of the Coalition of Veterans Organizations, a group based in Illinois. “They need to understand on a much deeper level the trauma the troops are facing.”
Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, called suicides among active-duty military personnel “the tip of the iceberg.” He cited a survey the group conducted this year among its 160,000 members that found that 37 percent knew someone who had committed suicide.
Mr. Rieckhoff attributed the rise in military suicides to too few qualified mental health professionals, aggravated by the stigma of receiving counseling and further compounded by family stresses and financial problems. The unemployment rate among military families is a particular problem, he said.
“They are thinking about combat, yeah, but they are also thinking about their wives and kids back home,” he said.
11 Jun 2012 – The rate of suicide among US military members is on track to be the highest since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, exposing the mental ...
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