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Suicides are still going up. What's going on here?

In January, suspected suicides in all branches of the armed forces reached an all-time monthly high of 24, doubling the number of combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, according to military data. (Military investigators often take months to confirm suicide as the cause of death.) The number of suspected suicides was 18 in February.

The majority of the suicides happen after soldiers return home, but Hurt and other doctors say the problems tend to take root while troops are still at war, meaning it’s crucial to address their mental health as early as possible.

The strains that the armed forces have endured as they fight two long wars are well-documented: extended deployments, a rash of brain injuries and sometimes insufficient military health care, among others. But military psychologists and troops in Iraq interviewed by USA Today also mentioned other, less conventional explanations. They ranged from boredom as combat operations cease in Iraq to, paradoxically, the improvement in communications that allows troops to keep in better touch with their loved ones — but also immerses them in family problems while they’re still at war.

  Army Times

They’re bored in Iraq? Bored to death? I thought that was just a figure of speech. Are they really asking me to believe soldiers are killing themselves because they’re bored?

Ultimately, Hurt says the military isn’t really sure what’s causing the suicides.

That’s more like it. And it’s high time they start finding out.

In new, hopefully preventive, measures, the Army is now providing mental health classes.

Venutto, the instructor, explains how a soldier will become traumatized and depressed if that is what they expect to happen following a tragedy. If you expect to suffer, you will.

He urges them instead to listen to the words of Epictetus, a former Greek slave turned stoic philosopher. “It is not the thing itself, but the view we take of it which disturbs us,” the quote reads.

Philosophical, indeed. And no doubt a conclusion a slave would necessarily come to, having no way to change his situation. And absolutely true, of course. However, this reminds me of a training seminar I was required to attend at a place of employment. It was a long video course by some “inspirational/motivational” guru, and a major key was adjusting your attitude. Inspirational stories had this same message. We were told how holocaust victims survived by adjusting their attitudes. It’s all about whether you let a bad situation get you down or whether you find ways to mentally deflect the negative.

That’s all fine and good for you individually, if you’re ever in a concentration camp, or a battle zone, or a bad economy, but it doesn’t do a damned thing to right the situation, now does it? Sounds to me like a way to put the onus on the victim and continue the victimization with impunity.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.