Are We Isolated In This Communication Age?
Today during my reserve drill we had a suicide prevention class. One thing during mentioned during this class caught my attention. One of the Officers mentioned that in today’s army soldiers are more alone than they have ever been. His reasoning for this comment was simple. In the years gone by soldiers were housed in four and six man rooms, or even 20 man bays. Showers restrooms were open community places. There was no real time that a soldier would truly be alone. This was a good thing in the fashion that all the other soldiers in the unit would know what was going on in each others lives and be able to tell one of them was acting strange and possibly depressed or suicidal.
In recent years many barracks and soldier housing units have changed to “semi-private” rooms. This means that a soldier has their own private sleeping and living area while sharing a common bathroom and kitchenette with one or more roommates. This gives soldiers a lot of time to be alone, and can hurt unit cohesion. It is more difficult to keep track of what is happening with soldiers and see all the possible signs of suicidal intents.
This is not really what caught my attending, but the fact that society has become more isolated. We are in a world where communication is overly abundant. Businesses assume that all their customers have Cell-phones and e-mail addresses. People are “Keeping in touch” with all their “Friends” on social networking sites like http://www.myspace.com and http://www.facebook.com. People are given a glimpse into the lives of complete strangers with services like http://www.twitter.com. New is available on your cell phone twenty-four hours a day. With all this communication have we lost the face to face aspect of relationships?
There are many people out there today that count among their “Friends” people whom they have never meet in a real life situation. The majority of the people the “Know” the know thro social networking sites, on-line mages and chat rooms. How can you ever really know these “On-line Friends”? Does anyone ever see you on a daily basis? Is there anyone that knows you well enough to tell if you depressed or suicidal? How often do you talk to your “Best Friend”, or do you just text them?
Our lives have become an open book for the world to read, I am no different. I have a myspace and face book page, among other sites and services. Even I use Twitter. This comment made me think about that. The only people that I see everyday that would really know if something was changing in my life would be my wife and children. My wife talks to her parents and family every night. They know what is going on in our lives from day to day.
Suicide rate are at record highs in the military and on the rise for civilians. This is not a surprise with the country in the economic state that it is. I do not believe that suicide is an unforgivable sin, but it is not the answer to your problems. Committing suicide leave loved one hurt and broken, damages the families and lives of those left behind. And I feel that this isolation caused by the access to communication may be one of the leading factors in the rise in suicide rates. Take the time to talk to your friends and family. Log off the computer and game system, step out into the real world and meet real people. Don’t sit there in self-pity and depressions. There is more to the world than what may be right in front of you. Also, knowing real people might save you from making a mistake that will hurt those that you love.
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