Suicides in the military

An area of much concern for the country

| by Lt-Gen Harwant Singh (retd)

( October 26, 2012, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Of late, suicides in the military have been highlighted by the national Press, and the issue also came up for discussion in Parliament. The yearly average of suicides in the Indian Army is around 100. Some may argue that in an army of 1.2 million, that figure is not alarming. For the military, the life of every soldier is valuable and needs to be protected. There are some very complex reasons for these suicides and it is not possible to compartmentalise these into any set pattern or causes.

The officer whom I relieved on the divisional staff had a bright career and had been cleared for promotion to the rank of a brigadier. A day after handing over charge to me, he shot himself. He had realised that the medical board would block his promotion. The Deputy Commander of a brigade shot himself because some female had intruded into his married life. A soldier’s wife in my unit, for no apparent reason, suffered from fits of depression and the psychologist could not help her. She took her own life. In each of these cases, their depression had taken them to a point of no return, and the cause in each case was vastly different.

The Indian soldier’s woes have increased manifold. A number of wars and low-intensity operations in Sri Lanka and Kargil, and combating unending insurgencies have been his bane. The death of a close friend in these operations led to depression in some cases. Added to these are the repeated postings to high altitude and uncongenial areas, where one experiences persistent feeling of isolation and loneliness, and is haunted by possible sickness and the impossibility of air evacuation due to persistent bad weather in such areas. Postings in peace stations are burdened with overwork with little rest.

A soldier throughout his service, at best, gets no more than two years to live with his family. The break-up of the joint family system has left separated families to fend for themselves. Problems of living alone, raising children, their education and all the connected problems which get transmitted to the husband via the mobile phone, on an almost daily basis, add to the soldier’s anxieties and stresses. The Indian Army soldier is haunted by the prospect of retirement at an early age of 35/37 years, and the consequent financial problems thereafter. So, by and large, a soldier’s life in the Indian Army is stressful and often depressing.

Units with high standards of discipline, good morale and esprit de corps, with good and caring officers, are less likely to face suicide cases. Good leadership coupled with feelings by each soldier that he forms a useful member of the unit and his efforts are recognised and appreciated reduce the chances of depression among soldiers, who could otherwise be more susceptible to this malady. Efficient administration in the unit such as timely grant of leave, ensuring that soldiers get their rightful emoluments and periodic enhancement of their professional skills add to their well-being and contentment. All this reduces stress and anxiety which could be precursors to depression.

Some units adopt a system of early detection of cases of stress and anxiety through the “buddy system” and arrange counselling. As an immediate help at the unit level, a certain number of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) are given basic training in counselling.

The incidence of suicides in the American army is one a day and the percentage of officers in these cases has been higher than in India. The Pentagon sets aside $2 billion for mental health of troops, and the authorities have been trying hard to combat the problem of suicides. General Peter Chiarelli, who recently retired as Deputy Chief of American army, feels that these funds are inadequate. Suicide prevention programmes in the US army do not appear to make much headway. In the American army, there are cases of officers, including some doctors, ending their life though they never served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had a bright career, happy married life with bright children and no visible scars.

Such is the complexity and, perhaps, paradox of the working of the human mind and its susceptibility to depression and consequent suicides. The state of helplessness in combating this problem is best expressed by Leon Panetta, US Secretary of Defence, in these words, “This issue of suicides is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that I have come across.”

On the other hand, India’s Defence Minister seems to have found a simplistic remedy in liberal leave and good living conditions for soldiers. He has asked the Defence Secretary and the three Vice-Chiefs of the services to go into the issue of suicides. Predictably, this could be followed by constituting a “Group of Secretaries”, (the government’s ultimate solution for any complicated issue) to go into the issue and put up recommendations. This could possibly point to creating a “Department of Prevention of Suicides in the Military”, with an IAS officer as its full-time secretary! But these are perfunctory steps which have become a norm with the government.

Years ago the recruitment pattern was changed. The vacancies filled from the traditional classes who had been providing manpower for the army were shifted to the overall population spread in the country, and the recruitment came to be based on recruitable male population of a province. It may be valuable to determine if this recruitment pattern had added to the suicide cases. It is only a detailed analysis of personal data that a workable solution can be evolved. It is a problem that the army cannot just shoot it down or run a tank over it!

It would be pertinent to look into the enrolment standards. Military service has been rendered so unattractive that, for the present, it is the last choice for those who seek government employment. Military service is not just another avenue for employment for the unemployed. It is a well-acknowledged fact that soldiering is not everyone’s cup of tea. It may be worthwhile to introduce some elementary psychological tests for those seeking to join the military service as soldiers. Comprehensive tests on these lines are already conducted by the Services Selection Boards for those seeking entry into the officer cadre.

The writer is a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Government of India