Chaplains are pretty busy during Annual Training season in the National Guard. Tuesday I gave another suicide prevention class. It’s a requirement that Soldiers get the presentation at least once a year. The training focuses on the magnitude of the problem, how common issues can drive anyone to the point of despair, and that everyone can watch out for your battle buddy.
While many try to pin the Army suicide issue on multiple deployments, the majority of issues that drive people to suicide are common issues: failed relationships, financial difficulty, and legal woes. These are typical factors that we see in the civilian population, at schools, in factories, and even in the church. PTSD is a factor in military suicide, but it is not the top issue that Time magazine or other media outlets want you to believe.
The fundamental issue to remember is that everyone can save a life. You probably survived a breakup, be it in high school, college, or at work. You probably understand what it is like to bounce a check or have a tough time making your paycheck last the entire month. We are all in the same boat. We all have the life experience necessary to help people at risk of suicide.
Remember and apply ACE: Ask, Care, Escort.
If you believe that someone is at risk of suicide, ask him/her about the problem. Find out what is going on in the person’s life. Directly ask if he/she is thinking about suicide. Care by listening to the issue. Find out what is causing the pain and suffering. Why is the Soldier upset? Finally, escort the Soldier to a resource. That can be a chaplain, a medic, a counselor, an NCO, a friend, or a family member.
Don’t leave the person alone. Make sure that he or she gets help. It is okay to call a suicide hotline or wake up a supervisor, just don’t ignore the warning signs.
You don’t have to be a mental health counselor to apply ACE. You don’t have to be an expert. But you can practice these basic steps in suicide first aid. Do your part to reduce suicide and help your friends.
If you need immediate assistance these suicide hot lines are always available:
Military One Source – 1.877.995.5247 or National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1.800.273.TALK (8255).
God Squad 
Hello there . I spur anybody interested in mental problems to read great about some unusual method of preventing suicides – humor. The article written by Andrew A. Newman is available on The New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/business/media/a-humorous-approach-to-grim-issue-of-suicide-prevention.html?_r=1&ref=mentalhealthanddisorders. Goodbye
Heidi,
Thanks for sharing the article. Hope that the campaign goes well. It will definitely increase attention and awareness.
Some observations:
Annual suicide briefings have been a requirement (from what I understand of DoD policy) for many years … even before the current suicide epidemic became an issue reported widely in the news. It makes one ask, has anything changed in the frequency requirement for suicide prevention training since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began? If DoD maintains an existing policy of “once per year, check the box” for suicide prevention training, this should be noted and seriously considered for an update.
One would hope DoD would require suicide prevention training far more frequently than “annual.” I believe it is, but reading your post, as written, makes me wonder if there is an existing policy that requires this training to be given more than once per year. Is there?
You mention some common factors associated with military suicide and imply deployment to war and PTSD are cited unfairly as causes.
One must consider these common factors you mention — failed relationships, financial struggles and legal problems — are classic symptoms associated with PTSD, TBI and other psychiatric injuries.
It is true that data released by DoD indicates most suicides in the military are completed by service members who have not deployed to war multiple times. This could be slightly misleading when one considers more than two thirds of military suicides have deployed to war at least once.
For those who have never deployed to war, consideration should be always given to potential involvement of PTSD, TBI or other psychiatric injuries caused by events other than war deployment … military sexual trauma, training accidents (TBI), sports injury (TBI), chemical/toxic insults to the brain among them.
It is disingenuous to suggest, at any level, that the war is not a significant factor in the drastic increased rate of suicide within DoD.
MSR,
Thanks for sharing the comment and offering a different perspective.
Please remember that an annual suicide prevention briefing is a minimum. It is a floor, not a ceiling. Commanders have the ability to make this a quarterly or monthly requirement. Each unit will approach it differently. Soldiers are also required to get training on suicide intervention, ethics, stress, resiliency, our state resiliency program, and several other programs. So your typical soldier will hear about suicide more than once a year.
Suicide is a monumental problem in our society and in the military. There is no “one size fits all” solution because people contemplate suicide for different reasons. The number one reason service members commit suicide is a failed relationship. Divorce, separations, break ups, you name it. Relationships are first on the list and they have been there since the Army started collecting data, prior to 9/11.
Hopefully we can agree that while the causes vary, everyone can show concern and support those who are at-risk of suicide.