thedrifter
02-28-09, 06:03 AM
Marines suicide prevention: Troops ordered to undergo 2-hour presentation
By Tony Perry
Tribune Newspapers
1:18 AM CST, February 28, 2009
SAN DIEGO — Alarmed by a rising suicide rate among their troops, Marine officials announced Friday that all Marines, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, will receive a two-hour suicide-prevention presentation next month.
Commanders have been ordered to do three- to five-minute videos as part of the presentations.
The sessions will remind troops to watch for warning signs among their buddies and to immediately inform their superiors if they think a Marine is thinking of suicide.
In 2008, 41 Marines committed suicide, a rate of 19 per 100,000 troops. In 2007, the figure was 33 suicides for a rate of 16.5, and in 2006, 25 suicides for a rate of 12.9.
Suicide attempts also increased during the same period. In 2008, there were 146 suspected attempts, compared with 103 in 2007 and 99 in 2006, according to the Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps lost more troops to suicide last year than were killed in Iraq (32) or Afghanistan (27).
Navy Cmdr. Aaron Werbel, behavioral health affairs officer at Marine Corps headquarters, said commanders have been ordered to ensure the presentations are dramatic enough to grab the attention of their young troops.
"We don't want a presentation that will put them to sleep," said Werbel, the top Marine Corps official involved with devising suicide-prevention strategies.
At Camp Pendleton, filming of the videos is slated to start next week with generals and possibly chaplains, squad leaders and non-commissioned officers and, for dramatic effect, there will be film of ambulances and scripted scenes of Marines distraught over financial or relationship problems.
What makes the rise in suicides vexing is that nothing is different in the demographics or other statistical breakdown from previous years, Werbel said. Of the 41 Marines, 69 percent had been on at least one overseas deployment, roughly the same figure as the overall force.
The causes of the suicides follow a pattern seen by researchers for years: broken romances, problems at work, job dissatisfaction, and legal and financial problems.
"Our analysis does not point us at one specific target," Werbel said.
The two-hour presentations will be in addition to the mandatory one-hour refresher course that every Marine receives each year.
Beginning in boot camp, Marines are lectured about suicide and encouraged to discuss the issue with their drill instructors.
Ellie
By Tony Perry
Tribune Newspapers
1:18 AM CST, February 28, 2009
SAN DIEGO — Alarmed by a rising suicide rate among their troops, Marine officials announced Friday that all Marines, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, will receive a two-hour suicide-prevention presentation next month.
Commanders have been ordered to do three- to five-minute videos as part of the presentations.
The sessions will remind troops to watch for warning signs among their buddies and to immediately inform their superiors if they think a Marine is thinking of suicide.
In 2008, 41 Marines committed suicide, a rate of 19 per 100,000 troops. In 2007, the figure was 33 suicides for a rate of 16.5, and in 2006, 25 suicides for a rate of 12.9.
Suicide attempts also increased during the same period. In 2008, there were 146 suspected attempts, compared with 103 in 2007 and 99 in 2006, according to the Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps lost more troops to suicide last year than were killed in Iraq (32) or Afghanistan (27).
Navy Cmdr. Aaron Werbel, behavioral health affairs officer at Marine Corps headquarters, said commanders have been ordered to ensure the presentations are dramatic enough to grab the attention of their young troops.
"We don't want a presentation that will put them to sleep," said Werbel, the top Marine Corps official involved with devising suicide-prevention strategies.
At Camp Pendleton, filming of the videos is slated to start next week with generals and possibly chaplains, squad leaders and non-commissioned officers and, for dramatic effect, there will be film of ambulances and scripted scenes of Marines distraught over financial or relationship problems.
What makes the rise in suicides vexing is that nothing is different in the demographics or other statistical breakdown from previous years, Werbel said. Of the 41 Marines, 69 percent had been on at least one overseas deployment, roughly the same figure as the overall force.
The causes of the suicides follow a pattern seen by researchers for years: broken romances, problems at work, job dissatisfaction, and legal and financial problems.
"Our analysis does not point us at one specific target," Werbel said.
The two-hour presentations will be in addition to the mandatory one-hour refresher course that every Marine receives each year.
Beginning in boot camp, Marines are lectured about suicide and encouraged to discuss the issue with their drill instructors.
Ellie