US Army Chief of Chaplains MajGen Donald Rutherford recently noted that “relationship problems are a leading cause of suicides,” something previously noted here.  As a result:

As part of a push to prevent suicides, Army chaplains want 50,000 Soldiers and additional family members to attend their “Strong Bonds” retreats over the next three months.

Strong Bonds has traditionally been understood to be a marriage enrichment retreat, but it has been altered to include another demographic: 

A relatively new emphasis of the Strong Bonds program, however, is teaching single Soldiers how to properly end bad relationships.

“Young troops need to know how to break up and start over again,” Rutherford said.

It may seem counter-intuitive to some at first, he said, but bouncing back from breakups with resilience is key to preventing depression and even suicide.

The chaplain-led programs are a unique piece to the puzzle of trying to stem the epidemic of suicides in the US military — something Chaplain Rutherford recognizes:

In fact, chaplains should be the place to start when it comes to suicide prevention, said Rutherford. One reason is that chaplains are non-judgmental, he said. Another is they are sworn to confidentiality.