Learning From Marines About Military Suicides

Learning From Marines About Military Suicides
Posted: 03/28/2013
Joseph Bobrow
Founder and president, Coming Home Project

Veteran military writer Tom Ricks posted an important blog on his Best Defense column in Foreign Policy. Researchers Dr. Frank Tortorello and Dr. William Marcellino, sponsored by the Marine Corps' Training and Education Command and Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning, did something novel. They listened to Marines, who described in great detail their experiences of stress and distress. What did the researchers learn? They found that crises of meaning were central. Some Marines were able to bounce back, say by forgiving themselves for perceived errors on the battlefield. Others judged themselves harshly for perceived failures. Yet others remain plagued by doubts. The researchers saw real people describing their struggles to make sense of things done, not done, or witnessed.

This follows on an earlier study that revealed a critical factor in military suicides: overwhelming emotional pain. Meaning and emotional pain; quintessentially human elements. Another "no duh" moment. When will we wake up and learn to see what's right in front of us?
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