Men suspended from military service are often clearly disadvantaged compared with their peers

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Many young men who fail to complete their national service, military or civil, are clearly disadvantaged compared to their peers. The same applies to those who are exempt from the entire duty.
      Often such men suffer noticeably more from depression and sleep disorders, or have suicidal thoughts, compared to those ordered to complete their service.
      Those remaining outside the national service system also have more piled-up personal problems than others. For one, they have fewer people to turn to.
      These are among the findings of the end report of the so-called "Timeout" project carried out in cooperation with several authorities in the capital area in 2004-2005.
     
Even just a couple of personal counselling sessions were seen to improve the men’s situation.
      In the operating model developed in the Timeout project a young man is assigned a personal adviser, who contacts the man.
      The man can also seek help himself, but the model’s idea is that the initiative comes from the authorities.
      “The key word is early intervention”, says researcher Kaija Appelqvist-Schmidlechner.
      With the advisor the man can discuss issues related for instance to studying, accommodation, relationships, or health. Normally a few counselling sessions are provided.
      The mental wellbeing of those men who received counselling improved noticeably compared to those left without an advisor.
      At the moment the operating model is in use in connection with the military call-up in around a hundred municipalities.
     
The model that has proved effective is gradually being extended to call-ups in an even larger number of communities. The aim is that the country’s ten largest cities would be included in the Timeout programme next year.
      The model is also being experimented with in some schools. For example in Helsinki, the programme is being tested at the Vallila Vocational School.
      According to development director Riitta Simoila of the City of Helsinki Health Department, the model’s basic difference to previous attempts is that it is the school’s task to contact the youth who is showing signs of experiencing difficulties.
      The model may be introduced at Helsinki’s other vocational institutions as well.
      The entire subject has a painfully topical aspect, in that the gunman in the Kauhajoki killings last week is known to have been classified as E - that is he was regarded as unfit for military service and was sent home in order to "grow up" for a two-year period.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Survey: Bullying becoming increasingly common in secondary schools (26.9.2008)
  A seemingly ordinary young man who reported in his online messages that he hated people (24.9.2008)

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