VOA标准英语2012--For Pentagon, Soldier Suicides a Frustrating Problem

 

For Pentagon, Soldier Suicides a Frustrating¹ Problem

It was not the bombs in Iraq but coming home that resulted in the death of Josh Lipstein. 

The 23-year-old committed suicide last year, after returning from his second deployment² in Iraq.

His father, Don Lipstein, says Josh struggled with drug abuse - and did not want to open up to military therapists for fear of ruining his reputation. 

“I think as a society we train our mil [military] people to be tough, but there’s got to be a way for them to release that toughness after they come back from tour duty," said Don Lipstein.

Experts say the risk of suicide is even higher as soldiers transition to civilian³ life and deal with issues like post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, substance abuse, and financial difficulties - often alone, without the structure of military life.

Many don’t seek help for fear their careers may suffer.

But many others - like Marine⁴ Lance Corporal Michael Harris - do.

His brother Ben says Michael took his own life last February after his deployment in Afghanistan.

“Michael was at least actively⁵ reaching out and looking for help from the counseling department, but, when he let them know that he was drinking too much - and this was his own admission looking for help - that was when he was told that he now qualified⁶ as having a substance abuse issue and they could no longer help him," said Ben Harris.

The military started suicide prevention training years ago, but advocates say a rigidly-structured system of categorizing patients is failing to take responsibility for at-risk individuals who reach out. 

The result: missed opportunities.

U.S. government health experts at a recent conference in Washington said 70 percent of military suicide victims have seen doctors - many of them the same day they commit suicide.

Leon Panetta says the suicide issue is perhaps the most frustrating challenge he has faced as secretary of defense⁷.

“There are no easy answers to the problem and challenge of suicide, but that is no damned reason for not finding the answers for the problem of suicide," he said.

Don Lipstein will never get his son back, but joining an advocacy group, speaking out and raising awareness⁸ - are helping⁹ him turn tragedy into something positive.

“This is a start...by being able to sit in front of people today and tell the story and hopefully save a life," he said.

Ben Harris hopes the military will adopt a more holistic¹⁰, less bureaucratic¹¹ approach.

“The more we can do to continue to educate all of our military members from the bottom rank on to the very top that invisible wounds and emotional illness are just as dangerous to our military being ready to serve, the better it’s going to be," he said.

Michael Harris' epitaph reads: "Too awesome¹² for this world."

He should have survived coming home. 

1 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

11 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

12 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.