Suicides Among the U.S. Military Personnel

Suicides among the U.S. Military Personnel

March 15, 2013

Military Personnel Suicides

While every single day there are soldiers bravely wearing the American uniform, fighting for the lives, freedom, and safety of others, these very same soldiers are taking their own lives. The rate of suicide in active duty military personnel and in military veterans has been increasing in recent years. A number of reasons could be contributing to this heartbreaking fact. Military members often suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), alcohol and drug dependencies, and are away from their loved ones for lengthy amounts of time due to long, overseas tours, leading them into bouts of depression which ultimately lead to death. This paper will explain the ways in which all of these causes correlate with each other, how they lead to suicide, and the preventative measures that are currently being implemented.

Definition of PTSD and Effects

“PTSD is often characterized by flashbacks in the form of nightmares, a state of hyper-vigilance or a feeling of emotional numbness to the world.” From the years 2000 to 2011, the number of military personnel diagnosed with PTSD was over 200,000 (Zoroya, 2011). This mental health disorder is frequently linked with alcohol or drug abuse. From 2003 to 2009, these dependencies were “involved in 30 percent of the Army’s suicide deaths … and in more than 45 percent of non-fatal suicide attempts from 2005 to 2009” (NIDA, 2011). Because PTSD is so hard to manage on a day to day basis, soldiers often turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism. Military personnel also have easy access to drugs and often get addicted to prescription pain medication after receiving the pills to ease the pain from combat injuries. “[Twenty nine] percent of Army suicides between 2005 and 2010 included drug or alcohol use” (Berglass and Harrell, 2011).

There is a direct correlation between substance abuse and mild to severe depression. People use these substances as a way to get away from their problems, fears, and troubles. Once those substances wear off, they are left with the same problems they were facing to begin with, thus starting a never ending cycle. Substance abuse places not only the abuser, but also the friends and family in a hard position. An enormous amount of stress on all of these people is a direct result from the extensive amount of money going into the addiction and the erratic behavior of the abuser. Eventually when the combination of all of the stress and all of their problems building up, the addiction overcomes the person addicted. Everything starts to become too much and the person is then facing depression.

Someone addicted to drugs and alcohol, that spirals into depression