HUFFINGTON
09.01-08.13
INVISIBLE CASUALTIES
‘I TURNED MY LIFE AROUND’
Recruits are screened for psychological problems and are trained
to endure stress. Active-duty
troops tend to be more physically
fit and more purpose-driven, with
far lower rates than civilians of
drug and alcohol abuse. They have
access to virtually unlimited medical and mental health care. They
are all under close supervision,
hard-wired into a buddy system
and command structure.
For decades, these troops
seemed to be sheltered from much
of the stress, loneliness and emotional storms of civilian life — reflected in a lower incidence of suicide in the ranks.
But the rising military suicide
&FRF