Pakistan Military Has 0% Suicide Rate
Suicide among active duty service members of armed forces is a concerning reality in all countries of the world. Fortunately, Pakistan is among some of the blessed forces on the planet, with a 0% suicide rate.
This fact not only showcases the mental strength of our troops, but also the high moral values they hold as compared to most other militaries in the world.
Can you Guess the Military Suicide Rate in the US Armed Forces?
A recent study by Watson Institute’s Cost of War project, titled High Suicide Rates among United States Service Members and Veterans of the Post9/11 Wars, found that 30,177 active-duty personnel and veterans of the post 9/11 wars fought by the United States died by suicide.
Compared to this figure of 30k suicides, just 7,057 service members were actually killed in the post-9/11 wars and conflicts.
The actual number of post-9/11 veterans who died by suicide is much higher than the one estimated by Watson’s study.
A total of 89,100 U.S. veterans died by suicide just between 2005 and 2018. These including veterans of the Global War on Terror as well as previous wars like the Vietnam War.
Cost of 9/11 War | Why So Many Suicides in US Military?
According to the study, these suicides happened due to the following reasons:
Traumatic War Experiences
Traumatic War Experiences and the resultant PTSD syndrome – that caused soldiers and veterans to re-experience the trauma in nightmares.
Moral Injury
Soldiers/ service members develop a wound of the soul or one’s core moral self. According to psychiatrists, a moral injury is when a person “experiences a serious inner conflict arising from a grievous moral transgression that overwhelms their sense of goodness and humanity.”
In other words, a moral injury is caused by a trauma that shakes the foundations of someone’s sense of right and wrong when they “involve, fail to prevent, bear witness to, or learn about acts that transgress their deeply-held moral beliefs.”
This moral injury is a “trauma as real as a flesh wound.” It’s way more painful than the physical injuries soldiers experience during wars and conflicts.
Veterans suffering from moral injury suffer from intense “depression and sleeplessness,” sometimes without even knowing the cause.
Military Sexual Trauma
Sexual assaults and harassment affect both men and women serving in the army. Surprisingly, these come from their own peers and fellow servicemen.
According to the Watson study, 55 percent of women and 38 percent of men in the military suffer incidents of sexual assaults and harassment – almost all of which go unreported.
If anything, this study shows that the cost of war is way more than just the personnel lost and the expenses incurred.