SERVICE BEFORE SELF OR MENTAL HEALTH BEFORE SERVICE?

 

The heading above may raise many eyebrows. But considering the numbers below, it is only fair to raise this question. ‘Service before Self’ or ‘Mental Health Before Service’?

 An article published in 2021 quotes that in the last decade, the Indian Army has witnessed about 1,100 suicides. The numbers are tragic. 90 per cent of personnel who committed suicide were below officer ranks. And alarming since about 62 per cent of the personnel ending their life are between 25-30 years of age!  According to a recent study by the tri-service think tank, United Services Institution (USI), over half of the 1.3 million Army personnel are under severe psychological stress. In the past, the Ministry of Defence in their study, claimed that the personnel committing suicides have personal issues such as land related disputes back home and apathy shown by civil authorities towards such problems.

The Indian Armed Forces is the third largest military force in the world. In our days of rigorous training and preparation, each cadet internalizes the motto “Service before self” which translates to ‘My Nation before me’. We are groomed to adopt this as our life motto and this does promote a sense of belonging and camaraderie within the troops. But as each soldier leaves home to serve the nation, they are accompanied by many expectations-of the society, their seniors, their batchmates, their families, and their own. Carrying these expectations can become heavy, and that too carrying them with a smile on their face and courage in their hearts; It is not something that anybody can do! But well, that’s what they signed up for, right? 

Yes, absolutely, they did! But is it fair to expect them to do so while neglecting their mental health? While service before self is what the soldiers live by, the construct of ‘self’ may often get lost in the many roles they have to adorn. Putting themselves first, or more precisely, their mental health first, may be looked down upon, possibly seen as selfish. There is a notion attached to being weak, not “man enough”, “damaged”, or “unfit”. But is any of that true? 

 The screening of cadets is thorough enough, to only choose the best of the best, the strongest of all, both physically and psychologically. However, the screening happens before they are enrolled, and the stress starts soon after. Following a unique method of training, the cadets are broken down only to build them back up, stronger and more resilient than ever. However, when faced with the circumstances and situations that they are in, any person could break, emotionally speaking, and the fact that our soldiers have to face it for prolonged periods, severely affects their mental health. Research findings have stated that soldiers often report issues of trauma, anxiety, depression, night terrors, lifetime use of alcohol and even risk of suicide.

The current trend of mental wellbeing is taking over all workplaces, education institutes, and more, but the Army is still relying on building resilience and grit in their soldiers. What they need is a lot more. Having internalized putting everyone before themselves, the men and women in uniform, often forget to even think about their own needs and fears, and this continues even after they have retired from the forces. In a study conducted on army personnel, it was found that some of the threats and weaknesses reported by the personnel were reduced help-seeking behaviour, sense of isolation (from family), and increased susceptibility to mental health and physical disorders. The causes of their distress are not limited only to their job role, but organisational factors have a major part to play including poor leadership, excessive commitments, insufficient resources, frequent relocations, a lack of fairness and transparency in postings and promotions, inadequate housing, and non-grant of leaves (Chandani, 2021). 

Another USI report suggests prolonged exposure of Indian Army personnel to Counter Insurgency (CI) / Counter Terrorism (CT) has been one of the major contributory factors for increased stress levels. However, a soldier once trained well for combat and combat related roles, with resolute leadership can withstand pressures of tasks given at regular frequencies at different geographies. It is also part of man management to ensure that soldiers are not moved from one field posting to another with little time for recuperating. Resolute leadership or command of troops assumes critical dimensions in such a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous times. The officers must be more intimately involved in the daily routine of the men under their command. The adage, ‘know your men’ cannot be truer today and more complicated.

Quoted in an article, Colonel K. C. Dixit (Retd), a researcher at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA) explains that the suicides and fratricides are not a sudden scenario but has several warning signals such as poor motivation after returning from home, sudden mood changes, high irritability and at times drug addiction or alcohol dependency. “Such signs are accompanied by sleep disorders and growing pessimism. These lead to problems with spouses or superiors and then total dysfunction. Depression then worsens into panic, anger, and rage.”

Armed Forces personnel are our Bravehearts, they are our heroes, but they are humans too! Emotions and feelings are experienced by them as much as they are by everyone else. While the country expresses appreciation and gratitude for all that the Armed Forces do, there is a dire need to identify what can be done for them. A few broad pointers that come to the mind are: -

• Enhancing mental health awareness within the organization.
• Removing the stigma from mental health issues and reduce discrimination in treatment.
• Identifying early signs of stress and trauma. 
• Providing intervention where necessary. 
• Solutions to administrative issues like delay in granting leaves and promotions.
• Workload management. 

All the above are functions of command at various levels and need to be understood with all sincerity and commitment. Mental health issues must be accorded their rightful place, acknowledged and addressed in the right earnest in the Armed Forces since it has an impact on the operational efficiency.

I am grateful to my daughter Anoushka who is a licensed Clinical Psychologist for her insights and helping me put my thoughts on paper. The tone of the article may appear to be from my point of view, since it is from my point of view based on my experience, observations and anecdotal. Therefore, open to interpretations, differences and bashing.