By Vicki Brown*
July 30, 2009 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

Anything a soldier tells a chaplain is confidential – and that fact is the single biggest reason clergy are on the front lines of the U.S. Army’s suicide prevention efforts, United Methodist chaplains say.

“Chaplains have specialized training and are gatekeepers for the prevention programs,” said Chaplain Lt. Col. Scott Weichl, behavioral health program manager at the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

“Many, many folks come and talk to us. We are not judgmental, and many who have had serious difficulties just need someone to talk to,” added Weichl, who is a United Methodist chaplain. “We try to discern, to triage who needs to see someone with special training and skills.”

“I’ve had a lot of experience over the years with soldiers with suicidal thoughts and feelings. Not a single one has said ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ to professional help at the end of our sessions.”
–Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carleton Birch.

The Army stepped up suicide prevention efforts in January, mandating a suicide prevention effort involving 1.1 million soldiers, establishing a suicide prevention task force, improving Army policies, procedures, and resources and recruiting additional psychological and behavioral health counselors.

Through the end of June – the latest figures reported – there have been 88 reported active-duty suicides in the Army during 2009. Of these, 54 have been confirmed as suicides, and 34 are pending final determination of the manner of death. For the same period in 2008, there were 67 suicides among active-duty soldiers.

The Rev. Ron Lowery, district superintendent in Clarksville, Tenn., pointed out that when a solider comes to a chaplain and talks about suicidal thoughts, the chaplain can do something to help.

“It’s the ones we never hear from that we can’t help,” said Lowery, a lieutenant colonel and endorsed chaplain serving with the 11th Air Wing Tennessee Air National Guard.

Stigma remains

The stigma attached to seeking help remains a problem in suicide prevention.

“The environment we are in is sort of macho – somewhat difficult for a soldier to talk about. We are trying to make it more acceptable,” Weichl said. “The Army has prominent, high-ranking officials speaking about this.”

The stigma attached to suicide is not just an Army issue but a national issue, with civilians reluctant to seek mental health help, too, added Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carleton Birch, Office of the Chief of Chaplains.

“Soldiers have always come to chaplains,” he said. “What’s changed is that we’re now giving our chaplains more training and they have a bigger group of helpers to call on.”

Chaplains can refer soldiers to special drug and alcohol counselors, marriage and family counselors, mental health counselors, or social workers. “The counselors have come to realize that chaplains are an entry point,” Birch explained.

He has found that soldiers who come to chaplains will follow their advice.

“I’ve had a lot of experience over the years with soldiers with suicidal thoughts and feelings. Not a single one has said ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ to professional help at the end of our sessions.”

The Rev. LeNoir Culbertson, senior pastor at Madison Street United Methodist Church in Clarksville, Tenn., near Fort Campbell, has witnessed the concern about stigma. Eleven deaths at Fort Campbell in 2009 have been confirmed as suicide and three are still under investigation.

“A lot of people don’t want to use services on the post, and they don’t want to use their insurance for the same reason,” Culbertson said.

Her church has about 600 active members, and she estimates one-third to one-fourth are active duty or retired military. She said the church supports the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee, which base their fees on ability to pay.

Reintegrating after deployment

Culbertson said her role and that of the church is to serve as a resource for families. “The pattern I see is difficulty reintegrating after deployment,” she observed. “The spouse is away for 15 months, you learn to get along, then they are back. You are glad to see them, but boy, it takes an adjustment.”

Lowery agreed. Typically, the deployed person expects to return to their original family and then tries to adjust to changes. “The third phase can be giving up, and that’s when there’s a risk of suicidal thoughts,” he said.

Weichl is working on suicide prevention presentations aimed at raising awareness of the problem. A program currently being tested, called ACE (Ask, Care, and Escort), uses role playing with soldiers to encourage them to ask a buddy if they are thinking about suicide and encourage or escort them to seek help if they are.

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“The difficulty is in the asking. If they are able to ask their buddy, then the care and the escort goes much easier,” he said. “It seems so simple, but it’s difficult to look another human being in the eye and ask that profoundly personal question.”

Although research is continuing, suicides in the military seem to parallel the general population, with more suicides in the 17- to 26-year-old age range. Contributing factors include relationship problems, not just with a spouse, but with other significant relationships and extended family, Weichl said.

Other possible factors include financial difficulties and a change in station. Problems most frequently arise on return from deployment, but suicides also have occurred among soldiers who never deployed, he noted.

The ease of modern communication adds to the stress level of deployed soldiers.

“There’s no lag time in bad news,” Weichl pointed out. “A deployed soldier is not dealing with just with battlefield conditions, they are dealing with home issues. You used to get a Dear John letter, now it’s a Dear John e-mail.”

For information on how to support military families, visit GBHEM’s United Methodist Endorsing Agency’s Web at www.gbhem.org/chaplains.

The Army's most current suicide prevention information is located at www.armyg1.army.mil.

*Brown is an associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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Resources

United Methodist Endorsing Agency

United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry