Deployment Psychology Blog

Years ago, when I was on active duty, I was called to serve as the psychologist on a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in the case of a recent suicide of a Service member at the installation. While every suicide is a unique loss, this loss crosses my mind frequently. The husband and his wife, returned home very late one night from a date night and began to argue. As the argument escalated, he fatally shot himself. Although there were many precipitating factors, I have often wondered – would it be different if this had happened during the day? Did he feel it was so late he had no one to call and nowhere to go? Was he tired and exhausted?”