Guest post by Joe Hoft – published with permission
Republished with permission from AbleChild
With so much news about the recent Presidential election taking up so much of the news cycle, the Department of Defense (DoD) Annual Report on Suicide for 2023 was released and, unfortunately, ignored. Our Service members deserve more, especially given the findings in the report.
Suicide among active-duty military personnel is at an all-time high and according to a USO report, “some branches of the Armed Forces are experiencing the highest suicide rates since before World War II.”
The data becomes even more shocking when one realizes that the same USO research shows that “the military suicide rate is four times higher than the deaths that occur during military operations.” In 2021, the data shows that since 9/11 30,177 active duty personnel and veterans have died by suicide compared to 7,057 service members killed in combat over the past two decades.
The DoD suicide report explains that 523 (25.6 per 100,000) service members will commit suicide in 2023, which is a steady increase since 2011. And, interestingly, the DoD explains that 42% of suicides are among those who have selected mental health diagnosis.
It’s hard to understand how the nation’s military personnel are killing themselves in ever-increasing numbers when, at the same time, their mental health resources are growing. Consider the FY2024 Budget Request for the Military Health System which highlights $1.400 million for clinical mental health programs and initiatives. In fact, according to the report, the mental health budget request tops the list of health requests. A billion and a half dollars in mental health programs and still the dropout rate increases?
But what’s most interesting about the DoD suicide report is what’s missing. Despite knowing that the largest expenditure in the DoD health program is on mental health, the DoD does not provide information on the specific drug “treatments” used. According to a Military Times investigation, the Defense Logistics Agency spent $1.1 billion on common psychiatric and pain medications from 2001-2009 and “the use of psychiatric medications has increased dramatically — about 76% overall, with some types of medications more than doubling…”
The data is from fourteen years ago. How much money is allocated to psychiatric drug “treatment” today? Must be a state secret. Obviously one can assume that drug use has increased along with the number of service members diagnosed with mental illness but, despite relentless research, putting a monetary figure on drug use remains elusive.
As for the number of service members who are prescribed prescription drugs, one report shows that 65% of service members have at least one pharmaceutical prescription filled and 41% of prescriptions for central nervous system (psychiatric) drugs include narcotics and non-narcotics. One scientific paper suggests that 1 in 6 service members are currently taking at least one psychiatric medication.
And in AbleChild’s efforts to obtain current medication data for service members, one document emerged that provided interesting, if questionable, information. According to DoD Instruction 6130.03 Volume 1 (Medical Standards for Military Service) which “sets physical and medical standards for appointment, enlistment, or induction into Military Service, one could argue that many thousands who are “treated” for mental health problems may not be allowed to enter the service to begin with.
So, what are some mental health issues that would prevent one from enlisting in the military? In section 6.28 Learning, Psychiatric, and Behavioral Disorders below are examples of some of the mental health exclusions.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, learning disorder (dyslexia), autism spectrum disorder, psychotic, schizophrenia, delusional, psychosis and mood disorders, bipolar, depressive disorder, adjustment disorder, personality disorder, suicidality, suicide attempt and suicidal speech, obsessive disorder compulsive, post-traumatic stress disorder, history of psychotropic medication prescription and gender dysphoria.
This recognized “standard” has been updated since May 2024. One may wonder how the military can list the above disorders as a ban on entering the military, but, on the other hand, spend billions on mental health care for service members (including prescription psychiatric drugs ) for the same mental health disorder.
For gender dysphoria, the 2024 “standard” lists it as preventing people from entering the military, but in 2021 the Department of Defense welcomes transgender people into the service and offers medical care to help those who want to transition. One can only assume that gender dysphoria occurs after entering the service.
The fact that the DoD has produced a long “annual” report on the number of military suicides continues to increase and not that the psychiatric drug data is infallible. It’s no secret that the military is a major supplier and prescriber of psychiatric drug “treatments.”
These drug “treatments” come with a variety of adverse events that may help explain why our military is committing suicide in record numbers. For example, most antidepressants on the market have side effects: anxiety, aggressive reactions, confusion, nervousness, hallucinations, abnormal dreams, irritability, mania, psychosis, and suicidality.
Perhaps a focus on the growing number of military personnel being diagnosed with mental disorders and what is being prescribed as “treatment” might be helpful. For more than two decades, the DoD has spent tens of billions of dollars on mental health initiatives and programs only to report every year that suicide rates among service members are rising. At what point does the DoD admit that mental health is not working, there is nothing better. How many must die by their own hands before those in command start asking the right questions.
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