A person decides to commit suicide... What is behind this?

It is with bitterness that we have to state that the topic included in the title continues to be relevant for the Armed Forces. Why is this happening? Has it always been like this? To answer these and other questions, it is useful to refer to the history. As I was told by very competent sociologists who once studied this problem, information about suicides appeared virtually simultaneously with data on the emergence of Earth's civilization. In different historical epochs, and sometimes in different strata of the same society, suicide was given opposite moral assessments. The attitude to this act depended on the prevailing philosophical, religious, legal, and scientific views.

For example, according to the beliefs of the ancient Germans, only men went to heaven, as well as women who committed suicide after the death of their spouse. Many people probably remember the episode from the movie "Vikings", when one of the warriors plunges a sword into himself and dies with the name of the god Odin on his lips, preferring death to captivity. Among some other peoples, suicide was also considered preferable to polon or slavery. This was the case in India, China, and Japan, where in some cases voluntary self-immolation carried the stamp of a social prescription.

On the contrary, in Sparta and Athens, the corpses of suicides were burned, emphasizing the ritual contempt for them. In the philosophical works of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek thinkers, we find condemnation of suicide. In Ancient Rome, as a rule, it was also evaluated negatively.

In Russia, the attitude to suicide was determined by the negative assessment of the Orthodox Church. Suicides were not buried by priests, they were not allowed to be buried in cemeteries, usually burial was carried out at country roads. Peter the Great introduced harsh punishments for suicide attempts. Then they were reduced, but, according to the Code on Criminal and Correctional Punishments of 1885, deprivation of life did not entail criminal punishment only in cases when "someone out of generous patriotism exposes himself to obvious danger or direct certain death, as well as a woman takes her own life to save herself from the threatened violence" (Article 1474).

Responsibility for suicide and for an attempt on it was valid in Russia until 1917.

The first detailed study of mortality in the Russian army appeared in 1863. It covered the time period from 1841 to 1862. A similar scientific study, but more detailed, falls on the period from 1862 to 1871. The author of a pamphlet published in St. Petersburg in 1873 under the pseudonym L. L. L. came to the conclusion that in all European armies, the death rate in the troops significantly exceeds the death rate of the population of the corresponding ages: "The reasons for this are very clear," writes L. L. L. " and there are quite a lot of them: for our purpose it would be interesting to investigate as far as possible, only the main reasons on which the increased mortality rate in the troops depends." Among the main ones, the author included such things as: "1) bad premises when quartering lower ranks in barracks in cities and in ordinary people, the composition of troops by the number of recruits and by the number of people of weak build, as well as the wrong choice of people for service, with a small chest volume; 2) military service, reinforced guard outfits, campaigns 3) the quantity and quality of food and clothing for the troops. These are the main domestic causes of increased mortality in the military, which operate constantly, regardless of climate influences." There are, of course, according to L. L. L., and secondary reasons. These are " moral reasons, but we will not touch them...".

Why L. L. L. ranked moral causes as secondary is a mystery. Perhaps their specific weight was really small, or the omissions are due to the requirements of censorship. Whatever it was, but also in the Soviet period.

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stories for a long time-from the early 30s to 1989-information about suicides was closed.

What did the declassified statistics show?

Crafty numbers

In the Armed Forces of the USSR, there were an average of 19.6 suicides per 100,000 personnel per year. The proportion of suicides averaged from 20 to 30 percent of the total number of deaths in the army and Navy. From 1986 to 1990, the Armed Forces lost about 15 thousand military personnel. This is more than the losses of the decade-long Afghan war. Three thousand people out of these fifteen committed suicide. The statistics are literally suicidal. The death of a warrior in a peaceful situation is an emergency, and one should not look for excuses for this phenomenon, but dig into the root causes of the disaster. Especially when it comes to suicides.

But first, let's think about the leapfrog that was going on, and is happening around the statistics of suicides in the army. It was very actively and not always conscientiously exploited by everyone who was not lazy. Last but not least, many media outlets are responsible for instilling false ideas about the life of the army in society. With their "light" hand, the Armed Forces began to embody a kind of" evil empire", a" disaster zone " in an already destroyed, humiliated, insulted power. The topic of mortality in the army has become one of the trump cards in this dirty and dangerous game.

Facts are stubborn things. Right. However, you can build and" serve " them in different ways. As for digital data, they are most eloquent when compared.

In 1926, the suicide rate per 100 thousand population was 7.8 in the country. In 1984-1985, the USSR had the highest rate of suicides - 30 per 100 thousand. This is over 80 thousand suicides a year.

On average, 21 suicides were committed in the army and Navy per 100,000 people during these years. This high indicator in itself was still lower than the level of suicidality in the country.

It is difficult to look for a black cat in a dark room, an ancient Oriental sage used to say, especially if it is not there. It is clear to a sane person where to turn in search of the reasons for the increase in the number of suicides. First of all, it is necessary to assess the state of society, specific features of the way of life, the specifics of national relations, cultural, historical, and religious traditions. But the lawyers are looking for black cats, looking for false sensations, turning them into newspaper ducks, then into notorious dogs, which are already completely "hung" with the army.

As a result of the one-sided and biased coverage of army life, many people have formed the idea that only "lower ranks"commit suicide in the Armed Forces. Meanwhile, an analysis of suicidal incidents shows that 80 percent of them are committed by conscripts, about 14 percent-by officers, 6 percent-by ensigns and midshipmen. The ratio of these figures to the number of these categories of military personnel shows that the ratio of the number of suicides to the number of officers, warrant officers, midshipmen, conscripts is approximately the same.

As for the causes of suicides, the analysis of more than 3,700 suicidal incidents conducted by a group of specialists also creates a picture that is significantly different from the one that has developed in the mind of the ordinary citizen.

30 percent of suicides occur on the basis of official troubles and the burden of military labor. For officers and warrant officers, this is mainly a sense of injustice, loss of value orientations of the service career, social and domestic disorder.

According to a questionnaire survey, 23 percent of officers were disappointed in the service due to lack of prospects and lack of social security. Every year, about a third of all officer suicides occur for these reasons.

For conscripts, various troubles of an official nature play a particularly important role. On this basis, more than 50 percent of all suicides among soldiers, sergeants and petty officers occur annually. Conditionally, the reasons for this kind can be summarized in three groups: 1) difficulties in adapting to the conditions of military service; 2) official troubles that are not related to non-statutory relationships; 3) non-statutory relationships, mockery, bullying.

The second group of reasons is family troubles, jealousy, unrequited love. In the circle of conscripts, about 16 percent of the total number of suicidal incidents occur annually due to infidelities of their favorite girls, family problems, and parental relationships.

Other causes of suicide - fear of responsibility for crimes and misdemeanors committed in the service, somatic diseases and some other reasons-have relatively little weight in the army.

May the reader forgive me for the abundance of digital material, but it is necessary in a substantive conversation. Of course, it is easier to write off all the army's troubles, including suicides, to the account of "neustavnyak". Moreover, the political situation also required a methodical loosening of one of the most powerful strongholds of statehood - the Armed Forces. Modeling a disgusting image of the army, riddled with criminality from top to bottom, brought rotten fruits: the spat upon, anathematized army, deprived of the support of both "powerful men" and traditional popular respect, was thoroughly covered with decay. Let's face it: to date, our army has squandered a colossal combat and moral potential.

It's probably not only in" hazing " that we need to dig up the origins of the army's troubles. As we have seen above, even among the causes of suicide, hazing accounts for only 17 percent of all suicides committed.

"Reform suicides"

This term first came to me in a speech on this topic by one of the unit commanders. Colonel Trofimov said that the sharp change in socio-political, economic, and spiritual conditions of life over the years of transformation, as well as the instability of the legal status of military personnel in various areas of the country.

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In the face of a sharp reduction in the Armed Forces, their lack of confidence in the future gave rise to a wave of suicides.

"Reform suicides" are a consequence of social insecurity, domestic disorder, a decrease in the authority of the army, a negative attitude of some of the civilian population towards the military, and the unwillingness of many young people to serve in the Armed Forces...

The growing number of suicides attracts the attention of sociologists and lawyers in many countries. In most developed countries, there is a significant increase in them. People of all ages, genders, professions, educational and cultural backgrounds are killed by suicide. A significant part of them are able-bodied people who could live and benefit society.

There is a widespread belief that suicides are associated with some kind of mental abnormalities of people who have decided to commit suicide. But studies have shown that the majority of suicidal people (over 80 percent) are mentally healthy people. According to medical experts, neither a thorough clinical analysis nor an experimental psychological examination revealed any signs of mental pathology.

Moreover, it is not uncommon for strong people to voluntarily leave their lives. I do not know in which department the "daddy" of accounting for the death of Marshal Akhromeev was set, but I am firmly convinced of one thing: Sergei Fedorovich was just such a person. Not only the suicide notes testify to this, but the entire life path of a loyal soldier of the Fatherland.

Yulia Drunina, passing away, asked not to blame anyone for her death. And who should I present it to, the bill for the destroyed spiritual pillars?

And how many of them, similar deaths of less famous people...

"Suicidal behavior is the result of a complex interaction of various social, psychological, psychophysiological and socio-cultural factors, a consequence of socio-psychological maladaptation of the individual in conditions of broad-social conflict." Such a wise definition was given by experts to the only step that makes a person lose the most precious thing that he has.

What, apart from the hardships and privations of the era of change, makes a "man with a gun" attempt on his life?

According to one "closed" pamphlet, military service itself, according to many domestic and foreign scientists, is classified as suicidal. Studies have shown that this is especially true at the present time, when the process of democratization in the country has expanded the range of freedoms for young people. Coming to the army and navy, young people face restrictions due to the specifics of military service, with strict limits of military discipline, the need for personal responsibility, etc. The inability to find an adequate solution to the difficulties that have arisen in the army leads some military personnel to a fatal step.

Coming to the conclusion, I want to say one more thing. Approximately one in six suicides leaves a suicide note. The analysis of their content and the linguistic similarity of the texts make it possible to classify suicides as victims of mass culture, which, according to experts, sometimes romanticizes suicide, gives it a mysterious and attractive meaning, and makes it a symbol of genuine suffering. Such romantic models of suicide are most easily assimilated and reproduced by socially immature people at the turn of their adulthood, when adapting to new life conditions, changing their social status.

Of course, some of the blame for the suicides of military personnel lies with the army. Much depends on how the phenomenon of suicide is treated in a particular military team. The results of surveys show that one in three soldiers does not condemn those who decided to commit suicide. The lack of moral prohibitions on suicide and a number of other reasons prevent the prevention of suicides.

Many officers do not see anything shameful in the fact that they are distanced from their subordinates. Some people are perplexed as to why the question of suicides in the army is being raised so sharply now, when many of the "puzzles" of their lives have not been solved. The statements of officers emphasize this feature: many of them refer to social problems only the difficulties of their own service and are reluctant to discuss the problems of social insecurity of soldiers and sergeants.

Conversations with military personnel who attempted to kill themselves, medical histories, and criminal cases of suicides indicate that only 10 percent of them had a firm desire to die, while in 90 percent of cases, suicidal behavior is a "cry for help" that was not heard by the people nearby.

This is also indicated by the results of many sociological studies. On average, about 40 percent of soldiers and sergeants indicate in their questionnaires that they serve against their will. Some people leave notes like: "it's the same every day", "the madhouse and the army are one". About 15 percent experience a sense of loneliness, indicate mutual understanding in the team, quarrels, 40 percent have experienced rudeness and rudeness of officers. In some questionnaires, such entries are made: "in the army, a soldier is not considered a person"," a soldier is treated like a dog", etc. 67 percent of the officers surveyed confirmed the facts of rudeness and insults against soldiers and sergeants. About half of them believed that there was a ground for suicide in the unit.

Officers also have complaints about their "contingent". Evaluating their subordinates, they noted that 82 percent of them are prone to alcohol consumption (a fifth of suicides were preceded by alcohol intoxication), 5 - to drug use, 11 - to substance abuse, 63 are characterized by neuropsychic instability, 68 have significant shortcomings in general and physical development.

"Anyone who has ever experienced suicide in his unit," military Lieutenant Colonel E. Kuzmin told me, " knows the moral burden that it imposes on all further service."..

Well, even in this sensitive topic, you can endlessly exchange mutual reproaches, alternately addressing them to society, then to the army. Although both sides are responsible for the lives interrupted by their own will.

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