MMT 2009 Volume: 13 Issue: 6 (September)
No magic device exists to stop or prevent suicides in the military—or human society at large, for that matter—and certainly no one should ever expect such a thing to be invented. Yet that doesn’t mean technology can’t and won’t help solve the problem. As Brigadier General Timothy K. Adams, the new commander of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM), notes in this issue’s cover Q&A, plenty of research has been collected on the possible causes of suicide and potentially effective measures for preventing it. Experts just lack the means to correlate all that data, essentially to learn what we know and don’t know.
“Different agencies have their own data collection capabilities, and they’re not necessarily talking to each other,” Adams notes. “Some may assess only three or four parameters, maybe demographics, medical history and a couple more. Then yet another database may assess three or four other parameters. It’d be nice to have them all integrated.”
But integration is the goal of a new effort CHPPM oversees called the Army Behavioral Health Integrated Environment, or ABHIDE, which will standardize and integrate data collected from various research efforts over the years. This project is just one piece of a comprehensive effort within the Army to address suicide, but indicates how technology can be used in support of a project that is otherwise entirely a matter of psychology —both of the individual and of the group. Technology’s value can also be seen in the use of virtual reality software to address another psychological issue of concern to the military: post-traumatic stress disorder.
Developers say the next generation of software, available via Internet connection and with far more scenarios, portraying life in civilian society as well as on the battlefield, gives veterans that much more opportunity to better understand their traumatic memories and their behavioral responses. Where do you see the value of technology in fostering better mental health? Please write or call me with your thoughts.
Ted McKenna, Editor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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