Feature Article
Tough Struggle
The military experience, particularly of those who serve in combat, can leave its mark – including these challenges that soldiers and vets may face. These can combine with other predisposing factors to create risk for suicide:
A “dependency culture” in the military that can make reintegration into civilian life difficult.
A culture of heavy alcohol use. In a survey conducted in fall 2002 and just released in March of this year, military members categorized as heavy drinkers (having five or more drinks on a single occasion at least once a week) rose to 18.1 percent from 15.4 percent in the previous survey from 1998.
Exposure to Lariam, an anti-malaria drug linked to mental problems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that Lariam (also called mefloquine), invented by the Army and administered to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, can cause panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, depression, anxiety, paranoia, delusions and psychosis that can occur long after taking the drug. In February 2004 the Pentagon reversed its stance on Lariam – once asserting it could not be a factor in causing suicides. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs William Winkenwerder, Jr., M.D., told a House Armed Services Committee he would launch a study into the side effects of Lariam, “to include suicide and neuropsychiatric outcomes.” Pentagon health officials also said they would no longer use Lariam in Iraq because the malaria risk does not warrant it.
Stigma regarding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mental illness that is still present in the military despite noteworthy programs to dissipate that stigma (see February 2004 “Preventing Suicide” for U.S. Air Force program). PTSD is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder arising from combat. Many in the military won’t report its symptoms because they fear it will interfere with their mission, disrupt morale of their colleagues, and possibly curtail their military career. Yet studies show that if not treated in the short term, PTSD can last a lifetime. A new military policy now requires troops returning from combat to be screened for PTSD and other mental problems. This policy was put in place after four military wives of special forces soldiers returning from Afghanistan were killed by their husbands at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2002. Two of these soldiers also took their own lives. Some had apparently taken Lariam, according to a March 2004 story by United Press International.
Lack of employment support – A recent comprehensive evaluation of VA work-therapy programs found that less than 1 percent of the 82,000 veterans with schizophrenia, who were in their prime working years and were employable given appropriate supports, participated in VA rehabilitation programs that emphasize work therapy to assist veterans in recovery. Legislation introduced last November in the U.S. Congress (Veterans Mental Health and Back-to-Work Act, H.R. 3442) would enable VA to provide supported employment services to veterans with mental illnesses as “recovery-focused services.” Meanwhile, some employers in the civilian sector are making extra efforts to hire veterans – including the “Hire the Heroes” program recently launched by automobile dealers and manufacturers through their consortium Automotive Retailing Today. The initiative hopes to place qualified recent military veterans in auto repair technician jobs to help counter shortages of some 35,000 service-technician positions that go unfilled each year.
For more information on “Hire the Heroes” visit http://www.autoretailing.org/military.
