Nobody wants to admit the leading cause of suicide in the military, probably in society in general, because it is politically sensitive. There is fear that announcing the leading demographic outright might make matters worse before it gets better. I have been a soldier in the US Army for 17 years, and the FBI has likely identified the cause of this trend using statistics.
The leading cause for suicide in the US military is that society is generally becoming increasingly incompatible with military service. The demographic least likely to commit suicide of any age range are black females. The demographic most likely to commit suicide are white males under the age of 25. It should be known that suicides occur among all races, genders, and ages. The problem, however, is not that suicide occurs but the quantity and trends with which it occurs.
The cultural generation born between the mid 1990-2005 are referred to as Millennials. This group is the first born into a world where the internet has always existed and divorce among their parents stands at record highs. This group is less willing to make social commitments, expects constant social feedback, and delays making life changing decisions longer than previous generations. Of particular concern is that this group tends to be nurtured more directly and longer than previous generations even while relationships of their elders disintegrate more rapidly.
In previous generations people learn some hard life lessons early in life. Not everybody gets to be a winner. Time is short. If you screw-up there is a punishment. Quitting is not acceptable when people depend upon you. Life isn't fair. Many Millennials are shielded from these harsh lessons by over protective guardians.
This profound change in social development has numerous consequences. Withdrawal from society and intimacy are perhaps the most common consequence for society generally. In the military you cannot hide from society, so simply withdrawing is not an option.
The military is also a highly confrontational environment. Positive confrontations are often regarded as a necessary quality in successful corporate environments, but not everybody is well prepared for communication that is so direct. Typically the confrontations in the corporate world are soft or rare for entry level positions, where the opposite is true in the military.
Historically military training has attempted to prepare people for this. Basic training is extremely confrontational and not in a positive way, but basic training is also a safe environment. In earlier times basic training was less safe thereby increasing stress for attendees. If a person is not sufficiently stressed during their entry level training they are ill-prepared to manage such stresses when their career becomes at risk.
divorce among their parents stands at record highs
The fact that you think this is inherently bad is odd.
It happens largely because: a) The nuclear family is mostly sustainable in times of economic prosperity, b) Divorce used to entail far larger social consequences in the past. Women were generally more dependent, as well. Staying with someone you don't like out of some perverse ideological duty like yours is far worse than divorcing them.
This group is less willing to make social commitments
Social commitment as to what?
delays making life changing decisions longer than previous generations
This is a bad thing, again?
Not everybody gets to be a winner.
Did you listen to some rant about participation trophies in school and you're now extending it to some insidious, omnipresent cultural idea that children are being taught everyone's a winner?
Time is short.
Hasn't changed.
If you screw-up there is a punishment.
Hasn't changed.
Quitting is not acceptable when people depend upon you.
I keep observing this form of values dissonance amongst reactionaries like you. On one hand, they value nothing more than the spirit of individualism and free trade. On the other, they hold these vague ideals (which have never been widespread) that sound oddly collectivist in nature.
Life isn't fair.
Hasn't changed.
Withdrawal from society and intimacy
I don't recall previous generations being particularly positive with regards to sexuality (this hasn't changed: many are still puritanical, but from leftist perspectives).
Finally, here's a little thought. If all of this is true and Millennials are the end of the moral zenith as we know it, who do you think is responsible for raising them to be this way?
I'd actually like to point out that staying together with someone you don't like because you are obligated to (due to social norms or religious reasons or whatever) is not only bad for you, it's also bad for your children.
Parental divorce, especially if it happened in mutual agreement, is far better than a having parents constantly fight and being raised in an environment full of micro-aggressions and hostility.
Blaming failed marriages on divorce is blaming the symptoms for the disease. Social acceptance of divorce isn't making married couples fall out, failed relationships are. Pretending everything is fine won't make it so.
(insert obligatory comparison to drug decriminalization here)
You state that leading cause of suicide is basically that the youth of today (the "millenials") are spoiled and weak compared to previous generations. Right. So how do you explain that the highest increase in suicide rate is among the middle aged and elderly?
I think your comment is interesting, but breitbart.com? That is the worst of the worst on the net in terms of reliable information. While a broken clock is right twice a day, I would never read or trust anything on that site. The source matters.
The leading cause for suicide in the US military is that society is generally becoming increasingly incompatible with military service. The demographic least likely to commit suicide of any age range are black females. The demographic most likely to commit suicide are white males under the age of 25. It should be known that suicides occur among all races, genders, and ages. The problem, however, is not that suicide occurs but the quantity and trends with which it occurs.
The cultural generation born between the mid 1990-2005 are referred to as Millennials. This group is the first born into a world where the internet has always existed and divorce among their parents stands at record highs. This group is less willing to make social commitments, expects constant social feedback, and delays making life changing decisions longer than previous generations. Of particular concern is that this group tends to be nurtured more directly and longer than previous generations even while relationships of their elders disintegrate more rapidly.
In previous generations people learn some hard life lessons early in life. Not everybody gets to be a winner. Time is short. If you screw-up there is a punishment. Quitting is not acceptable when people depend upon you. Life isn't fair. Many Millennials are shielded from these harsh lessons by over protective guardians.
This profound change in social development has numerous consequences. Withdrawal from society and intimacy are perhaps the most common consequence for society generally. In the military you cannot hide from society, so simply withdrawing is not an option.
The military is also a highly confrontational environment. Positive confrontations are often regarded as a necessary quality in successful corporate environments, but not everybody is well prepared for communication that is so direct. Typically the confrontations in the corporate world are soft or rare for entry level positions, where the opposite is true in the military.
Historically military training has attempted to prepare people for this. Basic training is extremely confrontational and not in a positive way, but basic training is also a safe environment. In earlier times basic training was less safe thereby increasing stress for attendees. If a person is not sufficiently stressed during their entry level training they are ill-prepared to manage such stresses when their career becomes at risk.
Related: http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/12/04/The-Sex...