3. An American Soldier
“I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.”
An American Soldier is trained to live by
the warrior’s ethos , they are taught to
survive and defend each other in any
given battle, but can’t always save
themselves from their menacing minds.
4.
5. What is suicide?
The action of killing oneself intentionally
In in this aspect, suicide is one of the biggest issues within our
United States military.
It has continued to increase within the last eight years and
although awareness has increased, the numbers have not
yet decreased.
6. Signs
• Over 90% of people who die by suicide have
clinical depression or another diagnosable
mental disorder. Many times, people who die
by suicide have a substance abuse problem.
Often they have that problem in combination
with other mental disorders.
7. According to Web MD
• Always talking or thinking about death
• Clinical depression -- deep sadness, loss of interest, trouble sleeping
and eating -- that gets worse
• Having a "death wish," tempting fate by taking risks that could lead
to death such as driving fast or running red lights
• Losing interest in things one used to care about
• Making comments about being hopeless, helpless, or worthless
• Putting affairs in order, tying up loose ends, changing a will
• Saying things like "it would be better if I wasn't here" or "I want
out"
• Sudden, unexpected switch from being very sad to being very calm
or appearing to be happy
• Talking about suicide or killing one's self
• Visiting or calling people to say goodbye
8. Why?
• Marital problems
– Enlisted Women are more likely to commit suicide
because of marital issues than men
– Married enlisted men are less likely to commit suicide
than single men
• Financial Struggles
• Bullying and hazing within the military
• PTSD
– Post Traumatic Stress Disorders
• Past mental health conditions
– Depression, anxiety, mood and personality disorders.
10. Spc. Dalton,of 1st batallion 15th infantry regiment, in
columbus georgia committed suicide in 2006 after his
second deployment in Iraq.
A fairly new soldier found him in his room taking his
food, as he commonly did with all of his other friends. Not
knowing this common , friendly joking behavior from
Dalton, the soldier called the Military Police.
Spc. Dalton was under the influence of alcohol and was
easily angered. He was escorted to his room by another
soldier to get another set of clothes before being detained.
In his room, he grabbed a revolver from his closet and
concealed it in his clothes.
11. • He proceeded to batallion office, asked
everyone to sit on the couch and pulled out
the revolver.
• In front of everyone, he shot himself and
ended his life.
13. Female soldier commits suicide
• Pvt Galina Klippel was
only 24 years old when
she decided to take her
life.
• She was stationed at
Schofield Barracks in
Wahiawa,Hi.
• She had returned from
a year long deployment
to afghanistan.
14. • She took refuge in her vehicle after the Military
police received a call about an enraged soldier with
a firearm.
• She shot her fatal shot around 5:30 pm of March 4
2011.
• No obvious signs of PTSD were present, but she has
confided in her family about how much she had
been affected by the children in Afghanistan.
15. Suicide rate spikes among
women
• “An increasing number are female
Soldiers, who rarely committed suicide
before but now are killing themselves at
a much higher rate.”
• A female soldier’s marriage is twice as
likely to result in divorce than a male
soldier’s.
• A female soldier is twice as likely to get
divorced as her civilian peers. Men are
less likely to get divorced than their
civilian peers.
16. Suicide takes its toll…
As of 2011, the number of
suicides among active duty
soldiers has begun to level
off at a rate of 150
members dying of a self
inflicted cause a a
month, and 346 including
guard, reserves and past
17. • 2010 was the second consecutive
year that the amount of soldiers
who killed themselves,
outnumbered the amount of
soldiers killed in combat.
• We are losing the war within our
own military.
18. Who is at risk?
• The suicide rate in the U.S. Army now exceeds
the rate across the United States as a whole.
• Young male soldiers are twice as likely to
commit suicide than the national average.
• Young female soldiers are three times as likely
as the national average to take their own lives.
19. Casualties
• In the summer of 2009, the U.S.
military lost 761 soldiers in combat.
But a higher number in the
service, 817 had taken their own lives
during the same time period.
• An average of 18 veterans commit
suicide each day.
20. • The majority of army
suicides, 60 % are committed
during the first enlistment the
first four years are the hardest.
21. Can we Fix it?
Although the war against suicide has been going
on for a few years, we continue to thrive for a
better support system for those who fight for
us. It is a problem that the United States Army
as a whole is desperately in need of solving. It
will be difficult and will not happen
overnight, but it can and will be resolved.
This is almost one active duty soldier committing suicide every other day, and about one military service member past or present daily, dying from suicide.
Suicide does not discriminate. It is like a disease. However as of 2011 , experts have shown evidence that young male soldiers are twice as likely to commit suicide than the regular population while the chance for a woman to turn to suicide, increases times three. Us army report 2010
