Milhealth's Directory of Military Health Information Resources

The Sergeant and Suicide Prevention

Just returning back from North Carolina (Ft. Bragg)***, after spending a wonderful time with my daughter-in-law and grandson (3yrs) I was saddened (but not surprised) to learn of the difficulties and problems some of the soldiers experience while deployed. I can cite many articles about the deployment cycle and its’ affect on the military, it is worth mentioning however that difficulties such as depression, suicide, aggression (some of the symptoms of PTSD) aren’t necessarily exclusive to the ‘multi-deployed’, often, it can be ‘first time’ deployers. In fact, the military is studying the ‘mind set’ of the multi-deployed v. first or second timers to examine the element that helps them cope with extreme psychological pressures and extreme battle fatigue (both mental and physical).

Military-Mental Health & Depression Screening Tools

FAMILY RESILIENCY KIT DEPRESSION SCREENING KIT (Click on Graphic)

Suicide Awareness & Prevention Tools

Suicide Awareness & Prevention: suicide awareness and prevention training tools.

Much Needed Insight:

Even though these materials are used for training and instruction by Commanders and NCOs, they provide much insight to deployment, redeployment and post deployment issues.

Commander Tool Kit

Suicide prevention is everybody’s business in The Army.* (and all military branches).

The Commanders Tool Kit is designed & developed:

• to assist Leaders at all levels as they implement their Suicide Prevention Program.

• so that leaders can incorporate these resources into existing training or create new training.

ALL SOLDIERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO USE THE MATERIALS IN THIS TOOL KIT!

Military Suicide Prevention Keynote Address-Suicide Prevention Conference

Eric Shinseki delivered the keynote address at the 2010 Department of Defense/Veterans Administration Suicide Prevention Conference. He and other officials spoke about rising suicide rates among young veterans and efforts by the VA and military to better prevent suicide.

Military Suicide Prevention - C-SPAN Video Library http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/291177-1 [Accessed 16 Jan 2010].

Why Your Adolescent Must Have An Earlier Bed Time-Sleep and Suicidal Ideation

Depression, Suicidal Ideation More Likely in Adolescents With Late vs Earlier Set Bedtimes

“Adolescents whose parents mandate bedtimes of midnight or later are 24% more likely to be depressed and 20% more likely to express suicidal ideation than adolescents whose parents set bedtimes of 10 pm or earlier…”

PARENTAL BEDTIMES AND ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION
Earlier Parental Set Bedtimes as a Protective Factor Against Depression and Suicidal Ideation

Study Objectives: To examine the relationships between parental set bedtimes, sleep duration, and depression as a quasi-experiment to explore the potentially bidirectional relationship between short sleep duration and depression. Short sleep duration has been shown to precede depression, but this could be explained as a prodromal symptom of depression. Depression in an adolescent can affect his/her chosen bedtime, but it is less likely to affect a parent’s chosen set bedtime which can establish a relatively stable upper limit that can directly affect sleep duration.