Thursday, June 24, 2010

Recruiter Suicide?

A recruiter in Alameda, CA possibly killed himself yesterday afternoon in the parking lot of his recruiting station.

When this story was first released the police investigator mentions that he doesn't think it was related to PTSD, and the story says the Soldier hadn't recently deployed. I'm thinking that 6ish hours isn't exactly enough time for the police to have done a thorough enough investigation to determine why someone would kill themselves, but I could be wrong.

I've dealt with depression before. It's not fun (if it was it'd be called "funpression"), and I can empathize with someone considering killing themselves. I really can. There have been times where I've given more than idle thought about it (you don't have to call me about this mom, it's not recent). A person's mind can get into some real dark places where it's not easy to get out of that cycle, and it's nearly impossible alone.

The suicide awareness training that the Army has been requiring of its Soldiers for the past few years might make for some dull periods of having to sit in classrooms, but it serves a purpose. Soldiers and their leaders should be afraid to take an interest in their fellows and in making sure they're not planning something terribly self-destructive. And Soldiers should be afraid to seek help. The Army really has made it very easy. I've used One Source myself and it was a blessing.

Anyways, I'm TDY in Milwaukee and going to go grab a very late dinner.

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