Since 2005, the suicide rate among active duty personnel has been rising, and experts are at a loss to explain it. The Army's reaction to the suicide problem is to provide briefings, presentations, videos, and help lines for those who prefer to go outside their unit -- none of which has had any discernible effect. It's quite frustrating.Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, the commanding general for Fort Bliss, publicly mused on his blog last week that "suicide is an absolutely selfish act. I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us." [Source}
He has since retracted the statement, but his inconsiderate slip echoed some of Benson's peers. Why didn't he give them a chance to help? What could have possessed Benson to take his own life?
On one hand, I can understand see how his inability to save Sgt. Quintana, combined with his perfectionism and the ignominy of the ensuing investigation, could cause him to be depressed. However, he had so many options and channels to get help.
I'm not sure what caused fully 164 active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard soldiers to take their lives in 2011. Multiple deployments, relationship problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder certainly have taken a toll, but I wonder if there's something else.
Are we, as a group, less mentally tough than previous generations? Are we more sensitive to battlefield failures? Perhaps we feel more responsible for what losses there are, since there are comparatively far fewer than in previous wars. Maybe it's the command climate, since the hallmark of a successful deployment (whether right or wrong) seems to be bringing back everyone alive.
Though Benson hadn't suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI), Junior Seau's recent suicide may provide some clues to the Army's dilemma. He inflicted a a gunshot wound to his chest so that his brain could be analyzed by scientists. His loss has brought questions concerning TBI's effects on emotional health to the forefront of sports. [Source]Pittard can say think what he wants, but Seau's manner of death could hardly be considered a selfish act.
1 comment:
Regardless of one's opinion of the war, its purpose, effectiveness, and handling, I have little doubt that declining public support of the war is a factor in the increase of suicides. You may be on to something in that today's society may be "less mentally tough than previous generations." Military service is held in less high esteem than in generations past. (Or at least it seems that way from media portrayals.)
The Maj. Gen. you cite may have made in insensitive comment, and perhaps could have chosen a better venue for his expression, but I don't think he should have retracted his statement. If that's his opinion, he should stand by it. I think the real measure of his statement is whether it encourages or discourages those considering it to commit suicide.
Frankly, I'm inclined to agree with the Maj. Gen.--suicide is a selfish act, especially for military members. Those who enlist are agreeing to place their lives in an investment account to be spent for our country's future. For the period of their enlistment, their life is not entirely their own. War is an ugly thing, and it can be said that there are no winners in war, only those that lose less. However, war is sometimes the only way to lose less as surrender can lead to losing everything.
Unfortunately, there no real way to know whether those who commit suicide are fully capable of understanding the selfish implication of their act. And it may seem unfair to judge someone as selfish when their state is unknown. But for those still living, if it dissuades someone, isn't a little "tough love"/hard truth worth it?
Suicide may seem like the only option for those distraught with life. One considering it may be seeking to end the pain, and calculate that the pain they cause loved ones by committing suicide will be less than the pain caused by continuing to live in such a state. Sometimes people with terminal medical conditions face that consideration.
I don't want to say much about Junior Seau's situation. His formal mental condition is unknown, and may always be that way. I don't know if the decision to donate his brain to science was made by him or the family posthumously. But I do know that he was my brother-in-law's cousin, and that his death hurt the family greatly. Anyone watching news footage of Junior's mother could see that clearly. I will not call his act selfish or unselfish because I have no knowledge of his understanding of self prior to his death. We must never give up hope that there is a better way, however.
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