--- title: Military Suicides and the Stigma of Therapy | TIME description: Does the stigma of seeking therapy inhibit the military's suicide prevention efforts? canonical: https://time.com/video/1JiYVaD8/ og:title: Military Suicides and the Stigma of Therapy og:description: Does the stigma of seeking therapy inhibit the military's suicide prevention efforts? og:url: https://time.com/video/1JiYVaD8/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1JiYVaD8/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Military Suicides and the Stigma of Therapy twitter:description: Does the stigma of seeking therapy inhibit the military's suicide prevention efforts? twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1JiYVaD8/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Military Suicides and the Stigma of Therapy > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Military Suicides and the Stigma of Therapy [Watch (HLS stream): Military Suicides and the Stigma of Therapy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1JiYVaD8.m3u8) (4:28)  _Published 2011-11-16. Does the stigma of seeking therapy inhibit the military's suicide prevention efforts?_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:19 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [One a Day: Soldiers and Suicide in the U.S. Military](/video/fDNAAvuz/) ### One a Day: Soldiers and Suicide in the U.S. Military [How Can Families and Communities Help Prevent Suicide?](/video/e7fOm3IW/) ### How Can Families and Communities Help Prevent Suicide? [Why Are There So Many Military Suicides?](/video/ewiDXxrn/) ### Why Are There So Many Military Suicides? --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] This is Command Post. A series of discussions about military matters. From Time and the Center for a New American Security. [ MUSIC ] Meg, in the military, people talk about the stigma of seeking mental health care. Has your research shown that that stigma in any way gets in the way of suicide prevention efforts? It does and I should point out that stigma about mental health care isn't unique to the military. But what is unique to the military is that individuals work and obtain medical Services from the same overall system. And they're very concerned to the extent that they perceive the stigma, that if they seek care, that it will be recorded back to their units. So individuals that perceive this stigma. May be afraid to seek care. They may not be able to afford care out, outside the military. And the, the people around them, their commanders and their, their peer group may not be aware that, that they're having difficulties. And that they need help. But implied in your answer is the fact that if it does get reported back to their commander That's going to hurt now, is that true I thought the army was making a big push to say hey you can you know seek all the help you need and we'll welcome you back. Clearly the most senior officers have spoken out on this issue to include Admiral Mullen when he was chairman, there's uncertainty though from basic soldiers out there whether their own command has the same attitude and whether they'll be welcomed to seek care and the sigma still exists and again It's not unique to the military. But they military is a difference culture. And, one in which that tough it out is going to persist. I think there's also been enough instances where somebody did go seek treatment and other people found out and that person's career, may be it wasn't over but, they weren't allowed to deploy with their unit. So there, there people legitimately concerned. One thing you find when you look at it, is that younger soldiers are very worried about what their buddies will think. What more senior soldiers are worried about, the effect on their career and if they're gonna be able to get a security clearance, when they retire from the military. And most contractors require security clearance. So you don't wanna do anything. I, I recently reapplied for my. Security clearance. And notice, the question had changed. I did not have to write down treatment I might have received for mental health problems resulting from deployment. Right, but there's still enough uncertainty about that and what it means. And again, antecdotal times of people whose security clearance was delayed. That people don't want to seek treatment. Now, again, the army has done some good things about that. So they started military one source, there's an online counseling, there's a number of other venues where somebody can go and seek treatment but there's uncertainty about what you can do and what you can't do and that is a big barrier. 2010 was the first year. That service members, of those servers members that died by suicide, the majority of them had sought care in a military treatment facility in the month before they died. And that's been a real change. We're screening a lot more people with our post- deployment health assesment and re- assessment and periodic health assessment. So we're getting more into the mental health system. But just getting into the mental health system doesn't mean that you're protected from suicide. So it used to be the, the belief was get them to the shrink. And now, it's gotta be more than just get them to the chaplain or the doctor, it got to be how can the unit and the family take care of this person over the long term. But, but Meg's point about 2010 is quite interesting because what it means is if you get them to the doctor. They still kill themselves. They may kill themselves. They may. That's pretty disconcerting. How effective is counselling in preventing suicides? I do a lot of lectures where I focus on what can you do in one to two sessions to decrease suicides. Because most service members are not going to come for ten or 20 or 30 sessions which is what's often recommended in the civilian literature. And so the intervention has to be something that helps bring the soldier into that cohesive, nurturing environment and again, often has the unit and or the family as part of the solution set. 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