WASHINGTON — Chaplains who are part of the U.S. Army’s first line of defense against suicide say they need more training in how to prevent soldiers from killing themselves, according to a Rand Corp. survey published online April 7.
Nearly all chaplains and chaplain assistants surveyed said they have dealt with suicidal soldiers and most said they encourage troubled soldiers to get help. Because of confidentiality roughly half said they would be reluctant to alert someone in the chain of command about the soldier, and roughly one-third said they would not call a crisis hotline for the soldier.
In addition the study found that chaplains and chaplain assistants hold some of the same negative views about therapy that often discourage soldiers from seeing a behavioral health specialist. Most in the survey agreed that service members who seek help for suicidal thoughts would be seen differently by their peers. About half said they would be embarrassed.
Forty-four percent of chaplains and 57 percent of chaplain assistants said they need training in suicide prevention treatment, the survey found.
Annual numbers of suicides in the Army began rising in 2004, peaking at 185 deaths among those on active duty in 2012 — a suicide rate of about 30 per 100,000, more than double the rate for civilians. Numbers have since declined to 135 Army suicides.
(RNS)
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