Suicide, Stigma, and Substance Abuse

WK8-Discuss  Suicide, Stigma, and Substance Abuse

Suicide, stigma associated with accessing services, and substance abuse are real issues for the military. Although military social workers lead the field in these issues, there is always more work to be done. The civilian world is watching as the military works toward assuring access to services that will help their personnel. In fact, many programs developed within the military have been reproduced for a civilian environment. At the same time, there are programs outside of the military that could be tailored to help military personnel. In this Discussion, you consider other steps the military could take in the areas of suicide, stigma, or substance abuse.

To prepare for this Discussion, read the case study, “Working With Clients With Suicidal Ideations: The Case of Denise,” located in the Learning Resources.

By Day 3

Post

• Describe an approach you would take to help the military expand or better address either suicide, stigma, or substance abuse.

• Describe how the situation depicted in the case study could have been handled differently via your approach.

References

Rubin, A., Weiss, E. L., & Coll, J. E. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of military social work. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

• Chapter 12, “Assessing, Preventing, and Treating Substance Abuse Disorders in Active Duty Military Settings” (pp. 191–208)

• Chapter 14, “Suicide in the Military” (pp. 225–246)

Pietrzak, R. H., Johnson, D. C., Goldstein, M. B., Malley, J. C., & Southwick, S. M. (2015). Perceived stigma and barriers to mental health care utilization among OEF-OIF veterans. Psychiatric Services, 60(8), 1118–1122. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.60.8.11

Document: Working With Clients With Suicidal Ideations: The Case of Denise (PDF)