The role of military chaplaincy in addressing service member help avoidance: A critical review with treatment implications.

Abstract

The problem of suicide and mental health difficulties generally among military service members has a prominent and central role at present. Notoriously, suicides have long represented more military deaths than actual combat. However, despite attempts to address this and related difficulties, the problem continues to rise, rather than subsist. The present review begins with an exploration of the severity and prevalence of mental health difficulties in the military, with a focus on suicide and trauma in particular. It then identifies and expands upon the three key barriers to help-seeking within a military context, and applies the aforementioned discussion to the valuable but understudied and underutilized role of healthcare chaplaincy in a military setting. Discussion of the steps that may be taken to better communicate the value and function of healthcare chaplaincy across the service from leadership to service members follows.