Massachusetts National Guard is fighting a war against suicide
October 24, 2014
Recent data from the Department of Defense show that the Army National Guard has a higher suicide rate than any other branch of the U.S. military. In Massachusetts, the Army National Guard has been making extra efforts to help its soldiers and veterans reduce their suicide risk. Every member of the Guard learns about suicide warning signs and how to intervene, and several hundred have received additional training as “suicide intervention officers.” In 2012, the Guard started a joint program with the state Department of Veterans’ Services and the University of Massachusetts medical school, to develop new prevention programming and help medical students learn suicide screening techniques with military patients. A major challenge is to encourage help-seeking in spite of the cultural value, prevalent throughout the military, placed on hiding anything that might be perceived as weakness. As Nate Radke, a Guard veteran who recovered from a suicidal crisis, says in a video produced for soldiers: “If you’re thinking about suicide, ask for help. It’s not making you weak. It’s making you strong.”
Spark Extra! Read about a large-scale study of military suicide that showed other risk predictors for soldiers besides whether or not they had ever been actively deployed.