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My personal option only
1. They are away from family and friends, and lack the normal family support systems many people enjoy
2. It's a stressful work environment
3. There is a WIDE spread fear that mental health counseling will have a negative career impact, so people don't ask for help.
why do our troops suffer such a high rate of depression and suicide rates
I wanted to get the perspective of the vets
thanks
For some, trauma.
For others, lack of connection to a stable lifestyle...regular moving, limited root-putting down, upheaval of uprooting a family if you have one, marriages that don't withstand the stresses.
Just performing, in some cases, a very high-stress job.
Limited access to meaningful support networks that can be consistently counted on due to the transience of much of your lifestyle....isolation of all kinds, including, in some cases, bearing significant stresses that you can't actually speak about to anyone.
Adjustment issues are HUGE in this community, as well, as with any communities where a highly regimented lifestyle is the norm. If that changes (you retire, get out, get separated, etc.) and have not been able to prepare well for the transition, that is a very, very stressful adjustment to make for people of particular personality types.
There are some major endemic issues with accessing appropriate mental health care for this population as well, both during service and after.
True but what makes them more prone to this vs troops from other countries ?
Do you have data that suggests that foreign troops have signifcantly different risk?
Quote:
and even troops of WW1 WW2 generation?
The psychological issues of war veterans of these eras were in many cases not tons different, at heart, than those of veterans of more recent conflicts. They were just labeled different things ("shellshock" for PTSD, for instance), or not recognized at all...but they still existed. People are people. Stress is stress.
First question, how many other countries use their troops in combat for the length of time USA troops are going through? There’s a reason why our military is referred to as the world police. So many of NATO countries have relied upon USA military to the point that they’ve drastically reduced their own military.
When troops came home from both world wars they were welcomed home as the victors and celebrated. When they came home they took back their jobs from those women who had taken their place and the women went back to being housewives. Today’s veterans are returning to a significant segment of the population who hate the military and despise the country. Returning veterans who attend college face hostility from fellow students and bully pulpit professors. When it comes to jobs they must now not only compete with women in the workplace, they must also compete with illegal aliens as well as legal immigrants willing to work for lower wages.
There’s the belief that if you serve then you’ll receive care for life from the VA. If you have an injury from military service then you’re covered at no cost to you for treatment for your injury. All other treatment beyond your service injury will cost you out of pocket and not all veterans live within easy distance from a VA. Even if they have access to a VA that doesn’t mean they will get timely care. Some facilities set appointments many months to nearly a year later and that’s if you aren’t put on the dummy appointment list and are never seen. The anger and frustration of dealing with the VA is very real. Some veterans have given up on trying to use the VA but those in greatest need don’t have that option. They feel lied to and betrayed.
I'm a vet. Six years active duty in the Marine Corps and almost 26 years in the Guard. I've never understood the concept of depression. I wake up each morning and get on with that day's business. Over half my career was spent as a C-130 loadmaster, including about 90 combat missions in Bosnia and Afghanistan. I looked forward to each trip I took and I went to about 45 different countries over the years. I also looked forward to my weekend drills. I had a great career and I really enjoyed what I did. As for suicide, why would I want to do that? Now that I'm retired I'm in my twilight years. No need to hurry up the process.
AlaskaE our stories are similar. (Tried to rep you) 9 AD MC, 20 ANG.
I have to wonder if the pansy way we treat recruits in comparison does them any favors when they have to cope with reality.
Anyway, my opinion is the military also tends to attract people that already have issues coming in, as they think the military will be a fix, and either it is, or the military makes the problem worse.
I know of no one in my civilian life that has "issues" and did things like cutting, suicide attempts/success, irrational rage, etc. However, it was not all that uncommon in the military, even during the slack shore duty times, even before anyone encountered real work aside from boot camp. I have dozens and dozens of these stories. Not just enlisted, even officers.
The only cutters, eating disorders, suicide I know personally were civilian friends. I've known of a few but no one I knew personally. I guess in 29yrs I know of 4 or 5 military but the statistics are there. Not sure if 22/day is accurate.
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