“The Invisible Front”: Suicide in the American Military

Event Details

Television Broadcast: March 1, 2015
Part of a new American Forum special series in Spring 2015: The Aftermath of the Endless War

The managing editor of Foreign Policy, YOCHI DREAZEN is one of the most respected military journalists in the country, and has covered the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the Wall Street Journal and reported from more than 30 countries. His writing has appeared in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and many others. His most recent book, The Invisible Front: Love and Loss in an Era of Endless War, tells the story of a military family that lost two sons—one to suicide and one in combat—and channeled their grief into fighting the armed forces’ suicide epidemic. Photo Credit: Christopher Leaman

SUMMARY

 “Kill yourself, save us the paperwork” An epidemic of suicide in American servicemen and women---nightmarish for those of us that care about those who serveThe Feb 18  session of UVA Miller Center’s continuing  American Forum series on the Aftermath of the Endless War, presented:   “The Invisible Front”: Suicide in the American Military, with Yochi Dreazen, journalist-writer and the managing editor of Foreign Policy.Host Douglas Blackmon questioned Dreazen about the ever-growing numbers of suicides as well as hundreds of thousands of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) cases—including situations where the disorder is not manifest for decades.  Dreazen pointed out that suicides among active duty troops are actually falling because of a system that is in place and working. 

But for a PTSD victim in the National Guard or Reserve, the victim is “adrift” and “alone.”  This separation is part of the larger scenario of American society at large, in that most Americans are removed from servicemen and women.    The draft is gone; only 1% of Americans serve.  “There is a lack of connection” and a “divide between [the civilian] world and the military world.”  To those who never served, it is hard to even know the questions or the vocabulary.  The populace does not comprehend the situation and cannot empathize because they are so far removed, and do not share the risk or experience.  Consequently, to some in the military, the recognition and thanks civilians give to those in uniform—by applause, “thanks for your service,” or otherwise, are seen as a shallow or hollow expression. 

The other perception problem is the danger that every soldier who comes back has PTSD or is a “ticking time bomb.”   This exacerbates the unemployment issue for veterans.  

Mental health issues are in the shadows—the kind of thing on which “people . . . pretend it isn’t the problem that it is.”

The stress of the battle environment is experienced widely—including, for instance, those who control drones from afar, in the comfort of a base outside the war zone.  Similarly, journalists who are embedded see combat all the time and suffer.  Dreazen shared his own struggles and explained that he had been terrified.  “I was often scared out of my skull about what was coming around me . . .”    He described “nightmares and flashes of rage and temper.”  He added that he would be startled at a sudden sound.  He described his paranoia while in public places and his need for therapy.

Moreover, there is a terrific toll on the families.  One such family, the Graham family, suffered two deaths: one son, in ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) and on the cusp of a military career, committed suicide. The other, an officer in Iraq, was killed in action.  His father, General Mark Graham, was commander at Fort Carson in Colorado, which had some of the worst problems with suicide and also murder by soldiers.   Eventually, Gen Graham undertook steps, Dreazen explained, to improve the care and treatment of afflicted soldiers. He attempted to deal with those suffering with much more compassion, and to change a culture that saw as weak, those soldiers and personnel who sought help.  He wanted to combat the claim and culture that pegged those who admitted depression as cowards.    He opposed the notion that once you admitted to taking medication, you should be “kicked out.”  Other generals were not attuned to this problem, but General Graham “. . .  had lived it.  He was sensitive to it because he had mourned it.”  That led to changes at Fort Carson---“changes that have in some way replicated across the army.”  He advocated for a different reaction and “different approach to a whole range of true post-traumatic stress syndrome . . .” and fought the traditional General Patton attitude that a suffering soldier was automatically a coward.  He pushed to replace callousness and cruelty, such as a soldier being told:   “kill yourself, save us the paperwork.”

Dreazen concluded that the military has done tremendous work to change that mindset.  On the other hand, “it’s still there” and you still have those who contend that “a soldier with PTSD is faking it.”    Moreover, there is still the stigma.  And, for those seeking help, there is the fear, or the real possibility, that they will be thought a coward, literally kicked out, or forever forfeit the opportunity for advancement.     Dreazen described a scenario where, for example, a female pilot, after a lifetime of training and despite being one of the best and brightest, loses the opportunity to ever fly after she reports rape and she self-mentions or is diagnosed with PTSD.

One positive change has been the elimination of the question of “have you sought counseling?” when applicants seek a security clearance.  An affirmative answer terminated your career.   Sec Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen spent “huge amounts of political capital getting rid of that question.”  “There are fewer things less sexy than government paperwork, but . . .  changing that one question, unquestionably saved lives.”   

But, another problem exists.   Officers disqualify those with PTSD or related issues, and do so with the best of motives, concluding the disqualification is necessary for the health of an entire unit, and for its optimal functioning and safety.   Very talented officers who make such decisions are apt to be infuriated and disillusioned when such decisions are overruled—feeling that they need to be able to give orders, that they have to think about victory, and that they should not  need to “think about the human cost as the overriding factor.” 

General Graham’s career path ended after his crusade.  Dreazen opined that he did not get another star or advancement because of what he did in Fort Carson.   “Because others . .  . thought he’s taking too much attention to himself, he’s taking too much attention to his family, he’s calling too much attention to a problem we wish wasn’t getting that kind of attention.”

Where do we go from here?   The problem is not money.    There is a huge amount of money being spent on this—hiring doctors, counselors and therapists.  But two things need to happen, says Dreazen:

• A cultural change is needed—more generals at a high rank willing to say, “publicly, by name, I suffered PTSD, I myself was suicidal, I myself had deep depression.  I pulled through it, my career did, and you . . .  can do the same.”
• “You need to make it harder [to get a gun] for a person in that very dark moment [when contemplating suicide] who says ‘it’s over, I need to take my own life, it’s too dark.’”    The “vast, vast, vast bulk” of suicides in the military are by handguns. 

"Until you do those two things, . . . these suicide numbers will either continue to rise, or at the minimum, remain at that level that is nightmarish for those of us that care about the military, for those of us that care about those who serve."

Written by Allen E. Hench