Military suicide prevention efforts are falling short, Pentagon concedes

[rebewranger]

By Leo Shane III
 Mar 2, 04:13 PM

Defense Department officials on Wednesday acknowledged shortcomings in their suicide prevention programs as the number of lives lost to self harm in the ranks continues to increase.

“The trends are not going in the right direction,” said Karen Orvis, director of the Defense Department’s Suicide Prevention Office. “Over the past two years we’ve seen a slight decline nationwide [in suicides] for our U.S. population, but that does not hold for [the military.]”


Despite numerous new suicide prevention initiatives from military leaders in recent years, active-duty suicides increased every year from 2015 to 2020, according to Defense Department data. Total deaths from suicide increased by more than 40 percent over that span.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/03/02/military-suicide-prevention-efforts-are-falling-short-pentagon-concedes/

[rebewranger]

The problem isn't they want to die.  The problem is they don't want to live.  The military should be exploring what they are doing to make so many people willing to die as an alternative to living.  It may seem like a small difference but is huge in terms of psychological processes.

[GtHawk]

How can any prevention efforts keep up with this administration's and military leaderships program to sow discord and despair among the troops?

[txradioguy]

How can any prevention efforts keep up with this administration's and military leaderships program to sow discord and despair among the troops?

They can't.  Calling your members violent extremists and potential domestic terrorists because of who they voted for...toss in all of the social engineering and add the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan as the cherry on top and you begin to believe this administration and the current DoD leadership is trying to double the suicide rate instead of reducing it.